Shuffle
by Suicidal Mickey Mouse
Summary: The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Where will they take theirs? Nancy needs to start living her life again after the passing of her father, but she doesn't want to do it alone. Mostly UST-ish Joe/Nancy
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own and am not affiliated with Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, or any of the characters associated with them

Disclaimer: I do not own and am not affiliated with Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, or any of the characters associated with them. I also do not own or am affiliated with any pop culture references that I may choose to include.

Author's Notes: And now for something completely different.

For clarification purposes, Nancy and Frank are 19, Joe is 18. Also, there are a lot of things that are introduced that are going to need explanation. That will all come eventually, so if you're confused, you can ask about it, and I'll be glad to try and help, but you're probably supposed to be at this point.

* * *

_The days keep coming without fail_

_A new wind is gonna find your sail_

_That's where your journey starts_

* * *

Joe struggled to wrap and hold a towel around his waist as he hurried to answer the phone. The water from his shower had barely been turned off when he had noticed the ringing, and given that he was the only Hardy at home, it was up to him to answer it. The only problem was that he couldn't seem to locate the receiver. Joe was fumbling around the stacks of magazines and other assorted junk on the living room coffee table when the answering machine kicked in.

"Hi, you've reached the Hardy residence. We're not here right now, so if you could leave your name, who you'd like to speak with in regards to what, and your phone number, and we'll get back to you as soon as we can."

The machine beeped and familiar feminine voice started to speak as Joe finally spotted the base of the receiver peeking out from beneath a throw pillow on the couch. "Hi everyone. It's Nancy. Drew. Just in case you know any other Nancies...I was just calling to see if--,"

Joe triumphantly retrieved the phone and turned it on. "Nancy! Hi."

"Oh! Hi, Joe." Nancy greeted, sounding slightly bewildered. "Did you just get in?"

"Oh, no. I was in the shower and then I...couldn't find the phone." Joe ran a hand through his still dripping hair, making it stand on end.

"Ooh the shower." Nancy teased. "How's the wet look working for you?"

"Nance, you know that all looks work great for me."

"Right. You're the ideal specimen of the male figure."

"And don't you forget it." Joe paused. "So, how are you? I mean, how are you holding up?" He started to slowly walk through the living room aimlessly as a way to occupy himself; he knew that sitting on the couch while soaking wet would only earn him a lecture from his mother, and he felt awkward just standing there.

Nancy sighed. "I'm doing all right, I guess. It's been a few months now so I'm getting used to everything. The house is a bit lonely now, but every tries to drop in a lot."

"That's good. And you know, if you ever don't have anyone around and need to, you can call. Everyone here is more than happy to talk to you."

"That's actually kind of why I called."

"Then aren't you just lucky that I'm home then. What's on your mind?"

"Well, one thing that my dad always wanted me to do was to go out and have some fun that didn't end in my mortal peril, so I'm trying to get around to doing it, and I planned this whole vacation."

"I'm sensing a but." Joe started upstairs to his room to get clothes, starting to feel slightly awkward to be on the phone in nothing but a towel.

"Bess and George were supposed to come because they're on spring break, but Bess broke her leg, and won't really be able to do anything, and George needs to stay to help her out, and now I'm stuck without anyone to vacation with. So I was calling to see if anyone in your neck of the woods wanted to join me in three days for a trip. It's short notice, I know, and I completely understand if no one can, but--,"

"Where are we going?" Joe asked as though it was nothing. He started to get dressed. "What climate should I pack for?"

"Seriously."

"Of course, seriously. I think I'm the only one who can, since Frank's off at school with his spring break already in the past, but I'm there. I mean, if you want me to be."

"That's a stupid comment. Of course I want you to be there. That would be great. But don't you need to ask your parents?"

"Pssh." Joe dismissed, starting back out of his room now that he had a pair of jeans on. "Maybe as a formality, but my parents want me out of the house. Without Frank around to keep me in control they are _so_ sick of me." He started to towel off his hair as he went down the stairs into the living room. "So how should I pack? Warm? Cold? Wet? Dry?"

"I don't know. What would you suggest for this? Joe Hardy, you just won the Super Bowl. What are you going to do now?"

Joe grinned. "I'm going to Disneyworld."

"I know, it's kind of cheesy and childish but--,"

"Are you kidding? It will be a blast."

"Well, I figured if there's one place that even I couldn't find a case, it would be the happiest place on Earth."

"I don't know...I've heard rumors that Mickey has been up to no good."

"Well he better shape up because I'm not getting involved." Nancy paused. "I've got to get going, but I'll e-mail you all of the details tonight so you can give your parents a heads up. Hey! I still have a spare ticket. Do you think Vanessa would want to come?"

Joe winced. "No, that would probably be a bad idea. Me and her in the same vicinity...they'd either kick us out or put us on stage to take over for Scar and Simba during the climatic finish."

"Did you guys have a fight or something?"

"We broke up right before your dad's funeral."

"Oh Joe, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."

"It's not your fault. You didn't know. It wasn't exactly appropriate to talk about at the time."

"And we don't talk that much outside of cases." Nancy finished. "Well maybe this trip will be good for us. We could actually get to know each other past the basics."

"I think I might like that. I've heard rumors that you're good people."

"A couple of people have told me that you're not so bad yourself." Joe switched the phone from one ear to the other. "I'll let you get going, but I'll talk to you soon."

"All right. I'll talk to you."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Joe hung up the phone and tossed it back onto the couch. He was rather satisfied with himself. Being a good friend, and getting to go on a fun trip, all out of one phone call. Not bad for fifteen minute's discussion. Hopefully Nancy was right and they would get to know each other better; sure they were friends, but he knew that Frank knew her far better than he did. It would be nice to change that.

After a moment of reflection, Joe looked down and caught sight of the puddles of water he had trailed from the bathroom. He sighed at the prospect of cleaning it up. On one hand, it would mean work. On the other hand, if he didn't he would face the wrath of his mother.

**

* * *

**"Nancy, where are you dear?"

Nancy started to straighten from her position bent under her bed, trying to reach a long abandoned bathing suit top that she wasn't entirely sure how it had gotten under the bed to begin with, when she heard Hannah's voice. She immediately regretted the action as her head collided with the bed frame. "Ouch." She scooted backwards before continuing her rise. "I'm up in my room, Hannah!" Still, she had managed to grab the blue bikini top, so the small bump on her head was worth it.

The top was tossed onto her bed, where a pile of other clothes sat waiting. Her suitcase was empty and open next to it, but Nancy was locating everything before packing. It helped her keep track of what she had and what she still needed.

"Well, what are you doing up here in the middle of the day?" The former Drew housekeeper asked when she arrived in the doorway moments later. "It's gorgeous out. At the very least you could be reading out back on the deck and getting some fresh air."

"I would, but I have to finish packing by..." Nancy checked her watch, "3:30 if I'm going to make it to Chicago in time to catch the 7:00 train to New York. Besides, I'll be getting plenty of fresh air in the next couple of weeks."

Hannah raised an eyebrow. "Going somewhere?"

"Just a small vacation." Nancy shrugged. She turned back to her pile of clothes, reviewing it carefully. She had everything except a dress in case they decided to do something that might require clothing a little more dressy. Deciding to save that item for last, she started to organize and fold.

"And when were you planning on letting people know about this trip?" Hannah stepped up next to Nancy, starting to fold with her.

"Well, I just told you a few seconds ago so...then." At Hannah's pointed look Nancy sighed. "I would have told you and everyone else sooner, but I only decided to go on the trip yesterday and I've had to figure out all of the logistics and stuff." She explained.

Hannah frowned, the motherly instinct that she held for Nancy shining through. "It's not like you to take a last minute trip. Don't tell me you've decided that it's time to take on cases again." The comment was not made in a disapproving manner. It was far from it; Nancy had yet to solve a mystery since the situation with her father and everyone was waiting for her to get back in the swing of things.

"No, it's just a vacation. I just...need to get out of here for a while. I've been in River Heights for nearly eight months now with only one thing to focus on. First it was Dad and taking care of him, and lately it's been sorting through all of his things...Now that I've finally cleared out his office and finished everything with those files, I've decided that it's high time I just high tailed it out of here and, as Bess would say, take a deep, cleansing breath."

"That sounds like a good idea. You need a little break from all of this. And New York might be the perfect city for it. Although why you need three bathing suits for a trip to New York City in March is a little beyond me. You can't be planning on spending that much time in the hotel pool."

"New York is only a layover thing. I'm spending the night with Aunt Eloise and then going to the airport bright and early for a flight to Orlando with Joe." Nancy stopped folding to look over at Hannah. "And before you ask, we're going to Disneyworld."

Hannah looked mildly amused. "Actually, I was planning on asking you why you were going somewhere with Joe. You two never struck me as being that close."

"We're not. No one else can come since the trip is so last minute, and his parents are dying to have him out of the house for his spring break anyway. For one reason or another they think he might get into trouble. Maybe we'll get to know each other a bit better, but mostly he's coming because I think a trip alone would be counterproductive."

"Well..." Hannah hesitated, deciding that choosing to word her next statement carefully, rather then just letting her opinion fly as was her more favored habit, might have a better result. "I think that you're doing things very logically. That always has been your nature."

Nancy sighed. "But?"

"But I think it's high time you let some of that logic fly out the window. Maybe going on the trip alone wouldn't be the best thing for you, but I don't really think that just going with the only person available will be that great either. If you ask me, you should have gone alone, put yourself out there and met someone, or waited a little bit until someone else was ready to go with you."

"You and I both know that I wouldn't do that." Nancy went back to packing. "In either case." She paused. "No. I'm happy doing things this way. It will be fun. It will be a change. And even though I know Joe, I don't really _know _him know him, so I get to have a friend around and still be meeting someone new. This is what I need Hannah. And I think that it will work out well."

"As long as you're happy."

Joe lazily tossed the travel sized can of shaving gel into his cart as he moved through the Bayport Target. He had been surprised to learn while packing that, despite his various travels over the years, he was lacking in nearly all of the necessities besides clothing. Given the choice between a somewhat late-night trip, or waiting until he got to Florida and having Nancy stop so he could purchase everything, Joe had made the decision to head out before it got too late, and he was now engrossed in viewing the aisle that held everything one could possibly ever need, in travel size form. After a moment, he realized that he had passed by the bin containing the small tubes of toothpaste, and he took a step backwards, and collided with someone.

"I'm so sorry." He apologized as he heard something clatter on the ground, and started to turn around. "I wasn't paying attention at all and when I..." Joe trailed off as his eyes came upon a familiar face. "Vanessa."

"Joe." Vanessa said with a hard tone.

In the awkward silence that followed the greeting, Joe took the opportunity to look over his ex-girlfriend. Despite the fact that they lived in the same town and went to the same school, due to what he was sure was mostly their skillful friends, the two had not seen each other outside of sitting on opposite sides of the classroom, and had yet to speak a word to each other in the months since their breakup. He glanced down at the floor, where a hanger holding a tiny bathing suit had fallen. He knelt down to pick it up. "How are you?" He finally asked quietly, handing the hanger back over.

Vanessa grabbed it quickly, scoffing. "I'm fine. Not that it was an issue five months ago, or anything."

"Vanessa I--,"

"Look, I'm really not in the mood for the whole big attempt at an apology right now." Vanessa cut him off. "Let's just get the whole polite small talk thing out of the way so we can get out of here."

Joe, defeated, nodded. "Fine." He doubted that it was going to end politely, but he refused to be the one to turn it ugly, so he would go along with what she wanted.

"So you're going on a trip." She eyed the contents of his cart.

"Yep."

"Do you have a case?"

"Vacation. With an old friend."

"Anyone I know?"

"Nancy Drew."

That was when the situation exploded. "That is so typical of you. I can't believe that you would even do that to your brother. Does he even know?"

And while everything may have seemed clear for Vanessa, Joe had no idea what she was talking about. "Do what to Frank? What does he have to know?"

"That you're going on some romantic vacation with the girl that he's practically in love with."

"It's not going to be a romantic vacation." Joe was really fighting to keep control of his temper at this point; he didn't enjoy being accused of things and it generally put him in a choleric mood. "It's just two friends trying to--,"

"You know, it was bad enough to find you and that girl, but to think that you're willing to hurt your own brother like this is just--,"

"Hey! You need to stop making assumptions. You don't even know what was going on between her and me and if you think for one minute that I would--,"

"Excuse me, folks?" A red-shirted employee at the end of the aisle cut in to the argument. "We're going to have to ask that you either, take this argument outside or stop entirely and finish your shopping in a civil manner?"

"That's fine." Joe put a hand on his cart. "I was just leaving." He started pushing down at of the aisle, his toothpaste forgotten.

"Thanks again for bringing me to the airport Aunt Eloise. But I really would have been fine taking a cab."

Nancy's aunt rolled her eyes at the thought. "Don't be silly Nancy. It's bad enough that I didn't pick you up at the train station when you got in last night. Besides, if this is going to be my only opportunity to see you for a while, I'd like to actually get a visit in."

"I'm sorry that I haven't been in contact better. I've just been sorting through all of dad's things."

"I know. I didn't really expect much else after the funeral. You've always been independent. But, I will say that I've never been happier to have a country with a crazy, unreliable airline industry."

Nancy shrugged. "I guess it can have its benefits."

"I just can't believe that O'Hare didn't have a single flight to Florida."

"Weirder things have happened. Maybe I was just supposed to see you for a while. How has work been?"

"Oh, absolutely crazy. Thing's have just been chaotic ever since we had to fire all the secretaries a few weeks ago."

Thoughts? As a warning, while I have this planned out, it's not pre-written, so the updates won't have any real schedule. And the rating is for later chapters, the beginning is probably going to end up pretty tame.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own and am not affiliated with Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, or any of the characters associated with them

Disclaimer: I do not own and am not affiliated with Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, or any of the characters associated with them. I also do not own or am affiliated with any pop culture references that I may choose to include.

Author's Notes: Thanks to those of you who reviewed. I'm glad that most of you are willing to give this story a shot even though it is quite different from what I usually write. I am sorry to hear that some people aren't willing to read it simply because of my choice of Joe instead of Frank. I tried to picture this story with Frank, but in my opinion, it doesn't have the same feeling that I want this story to have. If that's a deal breaker for anyone, that's fine, but I don't really think you need to review to tell me about it, especially without logging in so I can't check out your work to know exactly what's so superior about it.

Sighs OK, bitterness over, on with the fic.

* * *

_It starts out easy_

_Something simple, something sleazy_

_Something inching past the edge of reserve_

* * *

"Joe, wake up. We're at the airport." Laura twisted in the passenger seat so she could reach behind her and shake her son's knee. Joe had managed to stay awake long enough to slip into jeans and a sweatshirt, get his things into the car, and get himself into the car before falling right back asleep when he had woken up at four that morning. The early hour had been necessary in order to make it to the airport on time, but granted that he wasn't a morning person to begin with, it wasn't surprising that he hadn't stayed awake yet.

"What?" Joe lifted his head, rubbing at his eyes.

"We're at the airport." Laura repeated.

Fenton laughed. "Why don't you give him a napkin out of the glove compartment so that he can wipe up the drool?" He joked.

"I did not drool." Joe protested with a tone of annoyance. To be on the safe side he wiped at the corner of his mouth, but thankfully, found nothing.

"Right." Laura nodded. "You only snored."

"You know, you would think that considering the fact that I'm your son the two of you would be nice to me once in a while."

Fenton unbuckled his seatbelt after pulling up next to the curb where they would be meeting Nancy and dropping Joe off. "But you forget. You're not our only son."

Joe followed suit. "Aww, Frank will be glad to here that you remember him. He's always talking to me about how he never hears from you."

"We never hear from him." Laura countered. "Between his school work and that special project he won't tell us anything about..." She trailed off, scanning the area for Nancy. When she didn't see the familiar head of strawberry blond hair right away she turned her attention back to Fenton and Joe. "Now. I know that you said that the plan for this is vacation is for it to be a mystery free zone. Given your track record, I simply do not think that that is even in the realm of possibility." She looked pointedly at her son, who had gotten his bag out of the trunk and was leaning up against a cement column, clearly still thinking about sleep. "I'm going to ask that you do me favor that when you do find your case and you call to check in, you pretend like you haven't found it. I do not want to know about it; I do not want to worry. I would like to pretend that you are riding the Dumbo ride and not in a car during a high speed chase. And of course be careful and watch out for Nancy."

"Why is Joe watching out for me?" A voice chirped from behind the group. When they turned, or in Joe's case opened his eyes a bit more, they caught sight of Nancy, looking wide awake and well put together in a blue polo shirt and jeans with a sweater tied around her waist, and her bag was trailing behind her.

Joe straightened and walked over to give his friend a hug. "Mom thinks that we're not serious about the whole no-mystery thing."

"Oh, so you're supposed to swoop in and save me when we reach the moment of ultimate peril." Nancy nodded.

"I think so."

"Well, you have no need to worry Laura." Nancy quickly turned her attention to the older woman. "If we come across anything suspicious I completely plan to just walk away, and call the police if necessary. And if anything should happen, I'll make sure that Joe makes it out with minimal bruising."

Fenton smiled. "That's all we ask." He took his turn to hug the young woman and then looked her over more closely. Despite her put-together and cheery outward appearance, there was no mistaking the sadness that remained in her eyes. "How are you doing Nancy?"

"It's hard. But getting better."

"You'd let us know if you needed anything, right?"

"Of course. You Hardys are my go-to men." Nancy nodded. "Just ask Joe." When Joe didn't make any sort of response, she glanced back at the column, to see him dozing against it. "Still not a morning person, huh?"

"Uh-huh. I'm afraid you'll be hard pressed to get your day started before noon with him around." Laura said.

"We'll just see about that." Nancy took a step backwards. "Come on Joe." She clapped a hand on his shoulder, and pulled his body away from the column. He snapped awake. "It's time to say goodbye to your parents, and get checked in. You can sleep on the plane."

* * *

Joe was vaguely aware of the sound of rustling through something as he woke up. He had gotten on the plane, and then, as Nancy had suggested, he had fallen back asleep. He was only waking up after what he was sure was at least an hour and a half, but he certainly felt more awake and rested than he had all morning. He had barely taken a moment to reorient himself with his surroundings on the plane when she noticed that he was awake.

"Oh, you're finally up." Nancy smiled. "For a while there I thought you were going to sleep all the way to Florida. We're about halfway there now. The flight attendants came by a little while ago with drinks and stuff. I wasn't sure what you'd want so I just got you a Coke, but I have a Sprite which I haven't really touched if you'd prefer that and—I'm rambling." She finally cut herself off.

"Just a little." Joe smirked. If he hadn't been fully awake before, he had been forced to become coherent just to catch on to what she was saying. "I don't suppose the reason that you haven't touched your Sprite is because you had coffee."

Nancy looked mildly disgusted. "Oh god, no. I could never drink coffee. It's disgusting. The closest I can get to it is the frozen vanilla bean thing at Starbucks."

Joe laughed. "That doesn't even have coffee in it."

"Exactly."

"So what? You're one of those crazy tea drinkers?"

"Are you kidding? Tea is worse than coffee. No. The only hot beverage that I like drinking is hot chocolate. Maybe apple cider if the mood strikes me."

"Good to know." Joe mused. "Hey, look at this. Not five minutes together while we were both awake and we're already learning about each other."

"I think I've learned plenty about you in the time that you were asleep."

"Like what?" Joe challenged.

"Well, for one, you snore."

"Why does everyone insist that I snore?"

"Because you do. For another, you enjoy classic cars, and probably have a pipe dream of buying a junker to restore someday as a side project. You like to read historical fiction, and not mysteries, probably because you get enough mystery in your like without reading implausible stories, and you bring your passport with you even when you're travelling within the country because like every good Boy Scout, you like to be prepared." Nancy listed.

"How did you get all that from me sleeping?" Before she could answer his question, Joe noticed where the rustling noise was coming from. Nancy was going through the backpack he was using as a carry-on. "You're going through my bag?" He asked, not really angry, but rather incredulous; Nancy had always struck him as more straight-laced than that.

"My book got boring. Don't worry I spent most of my time looking through your passport. I didn't know that you and Frank went to Italy."

"That's because he didn't go. It was a school thing." Joe explained. "The teacher brought his top students over last year's spring break for two weeks."

"I didn't know that you took Italian. I always had you pegged for Spanish."

"And what about you? I'd guess French."

"Were you there when we were in Paris? I could barely order bread." Nancy shook her head. "I'm an Italian girl."

"Now you're telling me that we have something in common besides mysteries. It's madness."

"More than one."

"Oh really?" Joe raised an eyebrow.

"Uh-huh. You're looking at a girl who has the skeleton of a '56 Chevy Bel Air convertible in her garage just waiting to be fixed up."

"You're kidding."

"Nope. Dad was going to work on it in his spare time, and he figured he'd have it done by my twenty-first birthday. He had this thing that someday something was going to happen to the Mustang that we weren't going to be able to fix, and has always wanted me to have a back up car. I figure it'll be my little project during my breaks once I go back to school. I didn't even find it until a couple days before he...died."

Joe reached over instinctively to squeeze her hand reassuringly. "He'd be happy that you were planning on finishing it."

"I know." Nancy half-smiled, nodding. She coughed into her hand. "Anyway...what was Italy like? I have always wanted to go there."

Joe, deciding that the subject change was good a good one to let slide, happily obliged in answering her question. "We'll have to get you over there then. You haven't seen anything like it, I can guarantee you."

Nancy had her mouth open to say something, but Joe had his doubts that what she said was what she had been planning. "Shit." Her hand went up to her nose. "I'm getting a nosebleed. I'll be back in a minute."

Before Joe could really say anything, or process it really, Nancy had unbuckled her seat belt and was on her way to the back of the plane. With a bit of sigh, as he had been enjoying their conversation, he leaned back in his seat and started to relax. Then, he realized that he could take advantage of her temporary absence, and reached over to reclaim his carry-on. There would be no more snooping for Nancy.

* * *

"Interesting." Joe mused, his thumb gliding over the wheel of Nancy's iPod.

"What's interesting?" Nancy asked as she drove their rental car out of the parking lot.

"AC/DC, Queen, Aerosmith, Rolling Stones, Kiss..." Joe listed. "That's some pretty classic music for a modern girl such as yourself."

Nancy glanced over and saw him looking through her iPod with her purse on his lap. "You're going through my purse?"

"Turnabout's fair play." Joe shrugged. "You went through my carry-on."

"A girl's purse," she took one hand off the wheel to reach over and grab it, "is far different from a guy's carry-on."

"Then how am I supposed to learn about your deepest, darkest intimaci—oh Nancy." Joe shook his head. "I'm so disappointed in you."

"What?"

"New Kids on the Block?"

"Hey, I don't have to defend my music choices to you. At least I don't have Britney Spears on my playlist."

"You saw that?"

"Do you really think that I would go through your bag and skip over your iPod? A person's iPod is a direct reflection of who they are. And you are clearly an eleven year old girl."

"And what does that make you? A thirty-something trying to relive the glory days?"

"Oh please. NKOTB is a much better music decision than Britney."

Joe snorted. "Did you just abbreviate their name?"

Nancy blushed. "Maybe."

"Oh this is great. You're not just a closet fan. You're like, a closet groupie."

"Can I have my iPod back please?" Nancy started to dig through her purse with one hand until she pulled out a tape that would plug into her headphone jack.

Joe kept a protective hold on the device. "But I'm not done looking."

"You can have it back in a second. I just want to put some music on."

"I'm not listening to Jordan Knight crooning about how that girl has 'the right stuff'." He cautioned as he handed it back over.

Nancy rolled her eyes, searching for the right song. "So I'm a dork for listening to it, but it's OK for you to know all about it?"

"I never called you a dork."

"I know, but I'm thinking about calling you one for knowing that so I thought I might throw it out there." Nancy plugged her tape in and that put it in the tape deck. "Here we go."

Joe waited patiently for the music to begin. First he heard an audience cheering and then the strumming of an acoustic guitar. It wasn't a tune that he recognized. "What is this?"

"This is a song that I think should hold a special place in your heart. Just listen for a moment."

After another moment of introduction, a gentle male voice with a lilting tone started to sing.

"_I fell in a vat of chocolate. Yes I fell in a vat of chocolate."_

Thoughts? The song at the end is "Chocolate" by the Smothers Brothers. I heard it, and couldn't stop thinking about that moment in Crime for Christmas. Poor Joe.

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own and am not affiliated with Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, or any of the characters associated with them

Disclaimer: I do not own and am not affiliated with Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, or any of the characters associated with them. I also do not own or am affiliated with any pop culture references that I may choose to include.

Author's Notes: Thanks to those of you who reviewed. Now that everything's a bit more in perspective, I feel a bit more relaxed about the whole thing and, as a side note, I didn't intend to suggest that anyone was wrong to have their opinion and to speak it, but the way in which it was said was less than helpful. Sorry if I sort of scared people, but I can get angry and rant-y sometimes.

That being said, to clear up any remaining confusion: Yes. This story will be a Joe/Nancy. However, I don't have any plans of it being some sort of love triangle or a big betrayal on someone's part. There's a journey involved to getting to the point where the ready to be together, and there's also a lot about all the characters that has changed, needs to be explored, or both.

Also, Frank will be making appearances. While at this point in the story he's not present, eventually, he will become an important role.

Other than that, most of the questions asked are ones that will eventually be cleared up within the story so I will not be answering them now. Please continue to ask questions, as they do help me improve in the way that I explain things as well as in my general plot development.

* * *

_Lose my breath in waves_

_Knowing that every crash_

_Is bleeding the hour glass_

* * *

"We're sharing a room, since that's what Bess, George, and I were planning, but there are two beds so it shouldn't be too big of a problem." Nancy explained as she started to unlock the door of their hotel room. She pushed the door open and started in as Joe started to talk.

"What were you planning on doing if there were three of you and only two beds?" He asked, a little curious as to what the thinking was in that aspect of planning.

"Maybe take turns sleeping on the floor. Order a cot." She turned back to Joe, grinning. "Or push together the beds and all share. After all, girls don't have that same freak out about it that guys do."

Joe raised an eyebrow. He had the feeling that the last suggestion was less of a possibility and more of Nancy's way of teasing him some, but he wasn't entirely sure. He had seen her in a non-mystery setting before, but had never quite been able to pin down what her sense of humor really was. Going with the feeling that it was just a bit of a joke, he quickly shot back, "I don't suppose that that option is still open for discussion with us?"

Nancy hoisted her suitcase onto the far bed near the window. "Considering that between the two of us we don't have quite the same numbers issue that we'd have between the three of us, I'm going to have to say that your chances are about as slim as Bess' chances of marrying Matthew McConaughey are." She grinned wryly. "But, you could always dream of the possibility like she does."

It wasn't the humor that he expected out of her, and he had never seen it before, but Joe liked it. "I'll keep that in mind for future reference."

"So," Nancy started after a few moments of silence, "what exactly are the sights that I have to see while we're in town? You know, I'm going to be relying on you for quality control of this trip."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm not familiar with the park. You are."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute." Joe held up a hand, looking over at Nancy somewhat incredulously. He could not believe what she had just said. "Are you seriously telling me that you're a Disney virgin?"

Nancy blushed and briefly glanced down at the suitcase that she was now unpacking. She had made the offhand comment that she was expecting him to take the lead in deciding on their activities during the vacation, and to designate which activities were ones that were essential to the Disney experience. She hadn't thought that the comment was that big of a deal, but if she were to judge by Joe's reaction then she was sorely mistaken. "If by that, you mean that I've never been to Disneyworld, then yes. I'm a Disney virgin."

Joe seemed mildly appalled at the confession. "You are 19 years old. How have you never been here?"

"I don't know." Nancy shrugged. "The occasion never came up I guess. Most of the vacations that I took with dad were I either to visit family or friends of the family, or they had at least some level of educational purpose. Neither of which could be found at Disney. And when I took trips on my own, it just never occurred to me to come here."

Mild dismay turned to abject horror that remained on his face for a few moments until it transformed into seriousness that Nancy wasn't sure that she normally saw in Joe; there was just a hint of mischief that let her know that, in at least some respect, he was joking with her. At least she thought so. "OK. I'm going to pretend that you didn't just say that there was no educational purpose to Disney. _And_ the fact that it never occurred to you to come here. There's a level of naïveté that comes with being a Disney virgin and I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that that is what caused you to speak those words."

Now Nancy giggled. "I didn't realize that I was entering into such serious territory."

"Few do," was Joe's clipped reply. He abandoned his own suitcase in favor of going to retrieve the park brochures he had seen earlier in Nancy's purse. "All right. We're here for eleven days, ten nights. Obviously, we can't skip over the Magic Kingdom or Epcot. The Magic Kingdom will take at least three days to do properly depending on the crowd levels. We'll probably work in Animal Kingdom and Sea World; it might be pick and choose with the water parks...I'm sure we both have cameras, so that's taken care of, but the first thing we'll have to do when we get to the park is go to a gift shop to buy you an autograph book and cute pen so you can meet all the characters."

"Are you serious?" Her jaw dropped. She didn't think a theme park was worth quite this much fuss.

"Well..." Joe finally cracked a smile. "Not really. Disney is not the place for planned excitement Nancy. It is about spontaneity. None of that stuff was for real. Oh! Except for the autograph book. Everyone needs to get pictures and autographs with the characters their first time at the park."

"Really?" Nancy asked, somewhat skeptically. "You're not just saying that because you want to see me acting completely like a little kid?"

"First of all, it's Disney. Even people in their seventies act like little kids here; I'm not gonna have to lie to get you to do it. Second of all, it's tradition. All the cool kids do it."

"Oh? So I'm one of the cool kids?"

"Not now. But I think you could be with a little work."

Nancy scoffed a little. "I'm so glad to have the Joe Hardy stamp of "what might one day be approval."

* * *

"All right...earliest childhood memory."

A day and a half after the arrival in Florida and the two were having a grand old time. They had, thus far, spent the majority of their time in the park, exercising a level of activity that left them exhausted by the time they had returned to their hotel room, leaving them to sleep soundly until the next morning when the process started itself over again. Joe had taken the lead in choosing their destinations; it was only fair given that he was familiar with them and Nancy wasn't, but they were both having a more than fun time, as far as their typical adventures went.

Once their snooping complexes had been satisfied, the pair had turned to a different way of getting to know each other a bit better. They would take turns naming categories in which they would both give a response, which would inevitably lead to more conversation on the subject. These discussions took place mostly while they were waiting in lines, a situation which Joe couldn't find fault with.

Typically when he went to amusement parks with girls, the time in line was spent convincing the girl that the ride wasn't dangerous, and that even if she got scared, he would be there for her. Rides at Disney, were not as a general rule intimidating, and even if they were, Nancy was not the type of girl to let a ride scare her. It was a good thing to have something to do while waiting.

"I guess it's when I was three." Joe started after taking a moment to think. "I was playing next door with our neighbor, Mindy, who was my age. We were making mud pies, although, if I remember right she was kind of against the idea, and for whatever reason, I suppose I didn't fully understand the concept of cooties, I went and kissed her on the cheek."

"So you always were a womanizer." Nancy commented cheekily.

"She didn't take to kindly to it. She dumped a mud pie over my head."

Nancy couldn't stop the laugh from escaping at the concept, for which Joe was glad. He knew that she was having fun, but there was something about the girl that was nagging at him as being off, and he couldn't really figure out what it was. "So not all girls are susceptible to the Hardy Charm, huh? And here I thought there was no immunity for those who were unattached."

"Some studies have suggested that there's a recessive gene which grants immunity, I have been saddened to learn." Joe hung his head in mock mourning. Only moments later though he perked back up. "What about you? What is it that you can remember from the earliest reaches of your childhood?"

"Not a lot, actually." Nancy shrugged. "Mostly, I attribute it to getting so many knocks over the head, but my early childhood is pretty much a blur. Although the smell of gingerbread always reminds me of helping my dad make a gingerbread house for the holidays. We started doing that the year that my mom died, so I guess if you want to get technical I was three. But it's not so much a memory as it is a...jumbling of memories."

"It's a good one though." Joe conceded, hoping to not dwell on the sad topic of her passed on parents, however selfish that may seem. "Just how many times have you been knocked out?"

Nancy thought for a moment. "Let's see. For simplicity's sake, let's say that it has happened about every other case sense I started working serious cases. It doesn't really happen that often," she confided, "but there have been a number of cases where it has happened more than once during the span of the investigation, so it all balances out in the end. Now, I started real cases about when I was sixteen, and I'd say that since I turned sixteen I've worked about 160 cases. You can do the math on that."

Joe seemed dumfounded as they stepped forward a little with the line. "Wow. It's a wonder that your brain's not just a big pile of mush with all of that trauma. You must have a skull of steel."

"It's an iron alloy, actually. What about you? I'll take your surprise as a sign that you don't get knocked out that often."

"Not as much as you do. That's the beauty of working with a partner. For the most part, you only deal with the bodily harm about half of the time."

"So that's where I went wrong." Nancy nodded in understanding. "I should have insisted upon having a trusty sidekick like Frank did."

"What makes you think that Frank's not my sidekick?"

"Call it a well educated hunch."

"Well, you're only half right. We happen to have a system in place in which we alternate cases. Every other case _I_ am the hero while _he _is the mere sidekick."

Nancy started to laugh, but it didn't take long for the look of joy to turn into more of a wince. Mindful of the children all around her she censored what she had planned on being an expletive to a much milder, "Oh, boy."

Joe frowned, looking around; he expected something like that to mean that she had spotted something unpleasant, but he could see nothing that would warrant such a reaction. "What is it?"

"It's nothing." Nancy shook her head, but the action only seemed to make things worse. "I've just had a bit of a headache all day and it is fighting back through the aspirin I took with a new found strength." She glanced up at the semi-imposing facade of Splash Mountain. "I think after this one I'm gonna head back to the hotel and try and sleep it off or something. With any luck I can just take a nap and meet up with you later this afternoon."

Joe thought about it a moment before filing his protest. "That's stupid. Then you'll just miss out on stuff that you should do. Not that I would be opposed to doing them again but..." He trailed off, briefly faltering. "Besides, I'd be better off going back with you and replenishing my own energy stores. It's no fun to hang out at a theme park by yourself."

"You're not tired." Nancy pointed out.

"Maybe not. But my other arguments still stand."

"Argument. You already countered the first part saying that you'd be willing to do stuff again." She absentmindedly retorted. "Your only real point is that it's no fun to hang out at a theme park by yourself. And if anything, my leaving would only help you in that respect."

"You've officially lost me. And where did you learn to argue?"

"I've seen girls looking at you and you looking at girls all throughout the past couple of days. None of them want to approach you because they think I'm your girlfriend." Joe couldn't help but snort at the concept, and Nancy rolled her eyes. "Gee thanks. And you won't go over to them because you have some sort of holdup about leaving me to fend for myself. My leaving gives you the perfect opportunity to make a friend or two. And where do you think I learned to argue?"

Her father, Joe realized. It had been a bit of a stupid question. It was probably in her blood. "Well you're too good at it. There's no fun in it at all. And what makes you think I want to go make friends?"

"Because, I'm not an idiot. Just do me a favor and stay and have some fun will you?" Nancy finally sighed, dropping half of the argument. "I'll feel better faster knowing that I'm the only one missing out on some fun."

"All right." Joe nodded begrudgingly. "You've won this one Drew. Next time won't be so easy."

* * *

By the time that she had made it back to the hotel, Nancy's head had been throbbing, to the point where every step was like driving hot copper nails into her temples. She changed from her shorts to a pair of sweats, just to be a bit more comfortable, and had just gotten into the bed when the door opened. She groaned; she hadn't thought of putting up the do not disturb sign. "Could you please come back another time, and hang the do not disturb sign on your way out please?" She called quickly.

"Nance, it's just me."

Nancy opened one eye to see Joe standing at the end of her bed. "What are you doing here?" She started to sit up, ever so slowly.

"Don't get up." Joe urged, holding a hand out to stop her. "I decided that I didn't want to just stay at the park without you, so I called a cab about two minutes after you left."

"That was stupid of you." Nancy said, lying back down. "What are you going to do sitting around a hotel room while I sleep?"

Joe shrugged. "I figured I'd take care of you. I have a few headache tricks up my sleeve. Now, what makes yours worse? Light? Sound? Movement?"

"Light." Nancy answered softly. "And movement."

"All right then." Joe walked over to the windows, starting to pull the curtains closed. "You stay right where you are then, and we'll get rid of this light." After the curtains were closed, he checked all of the lights, which were off, and then sat down on Nancy's bed, next to her.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

Joe gently lifted her head from the pillow, shifted himself over, and placed her head back on his lap. "Giving you the headache treatment that my mom always gives to me. It'll help you fall asleep. Just relax." He started to gingerly massage her scalp with his fingertips. Nancy didn't immediately protest, which he took as a good sign. After a brief moment he started to speak in low, hushed tones. "There are strange things done in the midnight sun, by the men who moil for gold; the Arctic trails have secret tales that would make your blood run cold..."

* * *

The first thing that Nancy noticed when she woke up was that the pain in her head was gone. Then she caught wind of the fact that the room was very dark, indicating that the night had fallen and she had been asleep for some time. It was only after these two observations that she came upon her third discovery. Instead of on a pillow, her head was on Joe's lap, and he was also asleep, albeit sitting up, and gently snoring away. It took her a moment to remember that he had been trying to help with her headache, massaging her head and reciting poetry before she fell asleep. After deciding that he must have lulled himself to sleep, Nancy started to carefully remove herself from the bed so she wouldn't wake him.

She took a moment to fully orient herself again, and learn that it was indeed a little past eight, before locating her purse and removing her cell phone. She dialed as she went closer to the door, to give herself a bit more privacy as well as to avoid waking Joe. The phone rang a few times before it was answered.

"Hey Nancy."

"Hey Bess."

"How's Florida?"

"It's good. I just wanted to check in and see how things were up there."

"They're great. Meet any cute guys yet?"

"Not yet." Nancy shook her head, despite not being able to be seen.

"Well get to work." Bess ordered. "Oh, before I forget, I've been meaning to call and ask if you know why Joe Hardy e-mailed me to tell me that he hopes that my leg feels OK and heals quickly."

Nancy sighed. "It's a bit of a long story."

"Like the kind of long story where you go on a vacation to Florida without your best friend even though she's on spring break right now?"

"Gosh, we're playing hardball tonight, aren't we?" She paused. "I already told you. This was a really last minute trip. I just really needed to get out of town for a while and be away from everything. Besides, I didn't think Disney was really your kind of vacation."

"Of course it is. Have you seen some of those princes?" Bess joked. "OK, I've got to get going or I'll be late for my date. I met this drop dead gorgeous guy the other day and he's taking me to some play. But seriously. When you get home, I fully expect to here both of these so-called long stories."

"As you command it." Nancy rolled her eyes. "Have fun on your date."

"I plan to. Talk to you later."

Nancy hung up the phone and walked back to the rest of the room to put it back in her purse.

"Feeling better?"

Nancy jumped up, startled, clutching a hand to her chest. She turned around; Joe was awake and stretching. "Joe! You startled me. I thought you were still asleep."

"Nope. I'm up. You're headaches gone?"

"Yeah. A little sleep did the trick."

"Good." Joe nodded. "So, I think you owe me an explanation."

"What for?" Nancy asked.

"Like why you told me that this trip was something that you planned but some mishaps nearly ruined, while you just told Bess that it was a last minute thing because you wanted out of town." Joe stood.

Nancy decided her only way out of explaining would be to go on the defensive. "You were listening to my conversation?"

"Well, yeah. With the walls as they are, the guy in the next room over was probably listening to your conversation." Joe answered quickly, effectively squashing her idea. "Now, I know that something's up with you. You're lying to either Bess or me. Or both of us even. And you don't lie to people that often. Factoring in some of your other behaviors..."

"All right." Nancy sighed. "I get it. I've been acting suspicious, you've caught on. The jig is up."

"Yeah."

"OK, you've probably figured that this wasn't a planned trip." Nancy started.

Joe considered it very briefly. "The thought crossed my mind once or twice."

"What I said to Bess was more or less the truth. I needed to get away for a couple of days, and find something to take my mind off of things. And I didn't want to go alone, but at the same time I didn't want to go with anyone from back home, so the logical choice was to call your family. When you were able to come I was pretty happy; I knew you'd be able to keep me distracted."

"Distracted from what exactly?"

"Well, you remember the nosebleed and the headache?" Nancy waited for Joe to nod before continuing. "I've been getting those a lot lately. And a bunch of other things. I went to the doctor, and to make a long story short, I'm waiting on test results and I didn't want to sit around back home going crazy, so I figured I could at least organize a trip and pretend to have fun while I'm waiting. I'm supposed to get the call with the results tomorrow."

Joe asked his next question carefully. "And what exactly are the results going to tell you?"

"Whether or not I have cancer."

* * *

Thoughts?

This plot point is not meant to offend anyone who has lost someone to cancer or is fighting a battle with cancer. It is meant to be an exploration of character. Nancy, Joe, and Frank are constantly having near death experiences from violence, and I wanted to explore a different avenue from which this could come.

The poem that Joe starts to recite is "The Cremation of Sam McGee" by Robert Service.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own and am not affiliated with Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, or any of the characters associated with them

Disclaimer: I do not own and am not affiliated with Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, or any of the characters associated with them. I also do not own or am affiliated with any pop culture references that I may choose to include.

Author's Notes: Thanks to those of you who reviewed. I'm sorry about the delay with a cliffhanger like that, but I've come to the important time in a teenager's life where all anyone can talk about is college, and I had to go make all sorts of visits and such that left little time for writing, along with no access to a computer anyways. That and I have all sorts of summer reading and homework to get done. But by now, you should really know that I'm not all that reliable on the update front anyways. That being said, updates might be a bit more infrequent, given that I have to do all of these things, and work, but I will try my best, to at least be plentiful, even if I can not be timely.

* * *

_You almost always pick_

_The best times_

_To drop the worst lines _

* * *

Joe instinctively reached a hand out to the wall to steady himself as the words left Nancy's mouth. He would have marveled at the way a simple sentence could cause such a physically numbing reaction if his breath hadn't felt like it had been removed forcibly from his body. "Cancer?" He repeated softly.

For her part, Nancy seemed almost unaffected by the confession. She was by no mean's blasé about the situation, but she certainly wasn't emotional; no tears were welling in her eyes, nor would her voice give anything away. She was as stone-faced as Joe had ever seen her. "Leukemia." She confirmed, just as quietly. "They told me the specific type, but I wasn't much for listening at the time."

"That's..." Joe started to close the distance between them, figuring that the best comfort he would be able to be offer would be a hug or some other physical gesture, and not any words that came to his mind. "That's abysmally shitty." The contrast of the eloquence of the words felt right to him, not that he needed to explain himself.

"Yeah, I caught that." Nancy held up a hand to prevent the embrace, taking a step back. "Although I don't know how much we should really be worrying about it. After all," She sighed and her tone turned a little more resigned, "it's only about an 85 percent chance that it's cancer."

That was surely not the number that anyone wanted to hear. Joe doubted that he could work up any level of optimism with that statistic looking back at him. "And the other 15 percent?"

"Some vitamin deficiency or...something else that they mentioned." Nancy dismissed the idea with another wave of her hand. "I kind of just...heard the first part. Things kind of go selective when they tell you this sort of thing I guess."

There was a long silence, in which Nancy was staring down at her feet and taking deep breaths, presumably to keep herself calm and Joe tried to find the right words for the situation. If there was ever a time that eloquence might actually help him more than his usual off-the-cuff way of conversing, it was now. In the end he almost didn't say anything, for the fear that he might only make things worse, but he couldn't not say anything, and eventually settled for a question. "I'm the only person you've told, aren't I?"

Nancy wasted little time in nodding. "I don't think anyone else knows that I've been sick. I've been keeping a pretty close hand lately. But you caught me."

"You didn't want anyone to know until you did." Joe filled in.

"Something like that." Nancy smiled tightly. "This...isn't something that I want to think about unless I have to. And if everyone back home knew, they wouldn't just let it go. I want to have this trip...do some things that I've never done before. And then, if I'm fine, that's one more thing off the to-do list. If I'm not, then at least I won't have just sat around worrying and--," Nancy bit her lip briefly before continuing, "wasting time."

And that was the crux of it, Joe knew. It was clear to him that Nancy didn't hold much belief in the alternatives that had been presented to her; she thought that she had cancer, and that she would die from it. He couldn't exactly blame her for it, as nothing seemed entirely positive about the situation from his eyes, let alone from hers. "So...we'll have this trip." He took a deep breath and shoved his hands into his pockets. Coming up with solutions on the fly was something that Joe considered to be one of his specialties, and while he knew that he couldn't changed the situation, he figured that he might come up with something to help with her mindset.

"What?" Nancy did a double take.

"We'll have this trip." Joe repeated. "If that's what you really want to do, then we'll do it."

"You're serious, aren't you?"

"The way I see it, this is probably what you need, and I figure that you've saved my life, and Frank's, enough times that I can put my thoughts on the subject aside so we can do things your way.

"That's--," Nancy stopped herself, and settled for replacing her tired face with a grateful smile. "Thank you."

"Hey, if the easiest favor that I have to do for you is to enjoy a vacation, then this delve into friendship just might work out after all." Joe clapped a hand gently on her shoulder. "Now, what do you say that you get changed out of those pajamas, we go find some food and something to do for the rest of the night?"

Nancy took a deep breath, gathering herself. She smoothed her hands over her slept in clothing, and somehow, Joe knew that the extra time she was taking was centering herself back on being care-free vacationing Nancy. He only hoped that his transition would be convincing enough. "You have no idea how good that sounds."

"You know, I think I might."

"Oh really?"

"You forget that I haven't had anything to eat since those slices of pizza at, like, 11:30."

"That's right. You must be wasting away by now."

"Such a sense of humor. Where do you keep it hidden?"

"It's got a special spot in my closet right between my great sense of fashion and my ability to see through walls."

* * *

Joe sighed. The balcony outside of their hotel room window was really too small for pacing. He could take two steps and turn and then repeat the process. It was really more annoying then being the person who was stuck watching someone else pace.

At the same time, he had ruled out doing his thinking and brooding inside of the hotel room. Nancy was asleep, and while the thinking and brooding in and of itself was silent, he knew in the end that he would end up calling someone, and didn't want to wake her dead. Aside, of course, from the fact that Nancy was quite possibly sick and maybe even dying, the source of Joe's consternation was the fact that he was unsure who to call.

He had figured that telling anyone that many specifics of the situation was out of the question; Nancy had gone to some level of trouble to keep it a secret and Joe didn't think that his own desire to talk about it and seek advice was worth violating her trust over. This seriously limited the pool of who he could call. Practically every member of his family, from the close relatives to even the distant cousins, had a level of innate curiosity that wouldn't allow for vague generalities to go unquestioned, so his normal first, second, and third choices for this sort of thing, were all out. Likewise, the River Heights people would not make wise decisions, and in general, his friends all assumed the worst when he was secretive, so they would just give him warnings instead of any constructive help.

No, Joe had only a few options as to who it was he could call, and by the end of his attempt at pacing, he had eliminated all but one of his remaining choices for various reasons, that mostly ended with the people having the same issues with curiosity as his family. In a way, he wasn't all that thrilled about it, as it almost felt like he was going directly behind several people's backs, but in the end she was his only option. He knew that he could trust her.

Joe sat down on the lone wire chair that was artfully placed on the balcony after dialing on his cell phone and waiting for her to pick up. He rubbed at his face tiredly.

"Well, this is a bit unexpected. To what do I owe the pleasure of your phone call, Joe?"

"I want it to rain tomorrow."

"On your spring break? You're kidding. How will you perfect your gorgeous tan?" Joe didn't answer, and he could almost hear the frown creep into her tone. "Uh-oh. No snappy comeback about _my_ vanity in comparison to yours. What's wrong?"

"I'm on vacation with...an old family friend. Just me and her."

"And there's a problem with that?"

"I can't really go into details but...today she told me that there's a strong chance that she might be sick. Really sick. As in she might have cancer."

"That's terrible."

"And the thing is she wants to just act like nothing's happening until she gets the results back, and just have a normal vacation. I'm trying to do it but...hell, I just don't get it."

"What's to get, Joe?"

"How it's so easy for her to be so normal. I was doing my best but the entire time I just wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake some sense into her. I mean, here she is, possibly with cancer, and instead of being with the people she cares about, she's trying to forget all about it and pretend things are fine."

"I'm actually a little surprised. I think that you, of all people, would understand that."

"What do you mean by that?"

"When, you've been on cases, you've nearly been killed, right? You know, knives, guns, car chases, explosions, all that stuff that I don't like hearing about."

"Of course. All the time."

"And what do you do so all that stuff doesn't drive you absolutely crazy?"

It hit Joe where his friend was going with this. "Oh."

"You crack a lot of mostly inappropriate and only marginally funny jokes. Your brother likes to have a massage and think about just about anything else."

"So you're saying this is her way of not letting it tear apart her life."

"Now, you're getting it."

"And I should just forget how crazy I think it is and let her have it."

"We let you have your jokes." She paused. "You may not think it, but just trying to do that for her is probably doing her a great deal of good."

"No, I figured that much. I just didn't really know why."

"Well, that's what you have me for. I'm your insight to, well, just about anything you need me for."

"And you know that I'm eternally grateful for it."

"Of course I do. Was there anything else on your mind tonight that I can help you out with?"

"Not unless you have any hints for me about what Frank's been spending all his free time doing."

"Not unless you want me giving him hints about what we talk about."

"Fair enough. I just had to take a shot at it."

"I know. He'll tell you eventually."

"Can you blame me for not wanting to wait?" Joe didn't wait for her response. "Anyway, I'll let you get back to your night. Thanks for the talk Callie."

"Anytime Joe."

Joe hung up his phone with a more resigned sigh. Calling his brother's girlfriend had at least straightened things out for him to the point where he no longer wanted it to rain on the next day so he would have an excuse not to spend a falsely happy day at the theme park. And even though he had gone into more detail than he had originally wanted, he knew that even if he had given names, Callie was not going to go and tell anyone else what had been said.

Feeling just a bit better about everything, Joe started back into the hotel room, ready to try and get some sleep.

* * *

"Oh wow." Nancy laughed as she and Joe slowed their sprint across several parking lots from the hotel to the convenience store. Despite the near torrential downpour the Orlando area was currently experiencing, they had opted to run over, rather then go to the trouble of moving the rental and risk losing their parking spot. "I don't think I've had that much fun in the rain in a long time." She gathered her hair and started to wring it out when they came to a stop under the store's small awning.

"What do you do in the rain that's no fun?" Joe asked. Although he had resigned himself to the idea that he could handle one more day of Nancy's plan to ignore her situation, he couldn't say that he was entirely disappointed that the weather had acquiesced to his previous hopes. Instead of a long day at a crowded theme park, they were going to load up on junk food and watch daytime television, an activity which Joe felt held a little less pressure than the park would. He only hoped for Nancy's sake that the call came sooner, rather than later. Even if playing at normalcy was her way of keeping herself sane, Joe had his doubts that she could keep it up for a very long time without cracking.

"Well, I don't know what you do in that crazy town, Bayport, when it rains, but back in River Heights we generally stay inside."

Joe scoffed. "Inside? Where's the fun in that?"

"I'm starting to wonder that myself. Oh, and you were right." She tapped him on the chest with her index finger as she sidestepped around him to open the door. "The wet look does work for you."

"Are you saying you doubted my statement on the matter? I'll have you know that the wet look is rated as one of my best looks, second only to my jeans and white t-shirt Rebel Without a Cause look." Joe started to turn to follow Nancy inside but noticed that she had stopped herself in the doorframe. A quick glance inside told him why. "Seriously?"

"No kidding." Nancy nodded. "You'd think they'd have the courtesy to put the closed sign on the door or something."

Joe's eyes travelled between the cashier slumped over the counter with a pool of blood spreading beneath him, to the none-too-clever man not wearing a mask holding a gun, and a small group of people standing against the drink cooler with their hands on their head. They had clearly stumbled upon a botched robbery attempt. "We _really_ need to work on our timing."

"I'll say." The gunman glared. "Lock the door on your way in, won't you? We wouldn't want it to get too crowded. The way I see it we're all going to be here for a while."

* * *

Thoughts?


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own and am not affiliated with Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, or any of the characters associated with them

Disclaimer: I do not own and am not affiliated with Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, or any of the characters associated with them. I also do not own or am affiliated with any pop culture references that I may choose to include.

Author's notes: Again, really sorry about the delay. Hence the multi-update.

Oh, some language starts up in this chapter, but the story is rated M, so you should probably expect it.

* * *

_Control the situation so it don't control you_

_Let it go around and come around_

_Resist and renew_

* * *

Joe surveyed over the group of hostages as he and Nancy slowly sat down with them along the wall of coolers. There was a young couple, probably only a couple of years older than he and Nancy; the woman was crying, and rather than comforting her or putting on bravado and trying to protect her, the man seemed to be in the midst of a panicked mental breakdown. Aside from them there was a man who held his young daughter in his lap and was trying to keep her calm. He gritted his teeth at the end of his scan. These were not the type of people that should be in this situation. They certainly weren't going to be of any help getting out of it. He eyed Nancy, but all that he could glean from her expression was the same thing he knew that he was projecting: assessment of the situation.

"So..." he started, switching his attention to the gunman, who was double checking the lock on the doors. The way that Joe saw it, an ending wasn't going to come quickly by just sitting in silence. And by being the one talking, and most likely mouthing off, he would be diverting the attention from everyone else, hopefully keeping them safer.

"What?" The gunman turned back to face the group, his weapon swinging dangerously. Several people gasped.

"How are you going to get the money?"

"Excuse me?"

"The money." Joe repeated, slightly slower, and none-too-impressed with the intelligence of his robber. "How are you going to get it?"

"What do you mean, how am I going to get it?"

Joe glanced back to the counter and the cashier's body. "You shot the cashier before he could upon the register."

It took him a moment to realize the problem with this. "Aww, shit." He ran a hand over his already messy hair. After another moment, his attention was turned back to the group. "You're pretty smart, huh?" Joe decided not to answer. "What's your name?"

"Joe."

"Well, Joe, I have a job for you then. You're going to find a way to get me that money." He took a few steps over, and grabbed onto his elbow. "Get up." Joe didn't put up much resistance to the man's effort to pull him to his feet. "Let's see if _you_ can open that register."

"There's no way I could do that." Joe protested, knowing full well that he wouldn't be able to get into the register without the codes; if Frank were there, he might stand a chance, but as it was, he wasn't quite as technologically inclined.

"Well, I'd suggest you find a way to make it happen. Because I don't have a lot of time to waste, and I'm starting to get real pissed off. I'm likely to take out my frustrations on someone in here." He eyed Nancy, and then smirked. "Like your girlfriend over here."

As he reflected, Joe realized that bringing up the money hadn't been the smartest choice that he could have made when starting conversation. "She's not my girlfriend." He corrected as he made his way behind the counter. After a moment of staring down at the body of the cashier and the pool of blood beneath him, he started and looked at the register. The array of buttons did nothing but confuse him, but an idea did come to him, and he started to feel underneath the edge of the counter with one hand.

"Then you won't mind if I do this?" The robber's hand went, back and then flew forward and then collided roughly with Nancy's cheek. Her head bounced against the glass of the cooler door. The young woman squeaked out of fear.

Joe's attention snapped back from his search at the sound. He was going to say something, but Nancy beat him to it.

"No, he doesn't. But I do." She glared as she righted herself. "Did that make you feel better?"

"As a matter of fact, yeah."

"Good. We'll make a note. Gratuitous violence gets your rocks off." Joe shot off as she fingers finally found their target. He pressed the small button, hoping that it was silent. "Anything else we should know about your glowing personality?" Thankfully, no noise sounded.

"Yeah. I like things to happen quickly."

Joe had no snappy retort for that that wasn't likely to put the guy over the edge, so he set to work pushing random buttons on the cash register, and wondering if it even looked like he was trying to do anything. In the ensuing silence that followed, the others continued in their own little worlds, the gunman started to pace, and Nancy looked around the store, as if trying to find something. She finally settled on the doors. Through the driving rain she could see flashing blue and red lights in the distance.

"Umm...hey, uh...guy?" Nancy asked, lifting a hand to wave his attention over to her. She figured that Joe had pressed an alarm button, and then saw the opportunity to turn things a bit more and get some civilians out.

"What now?" He turned sharply, but before Nancy could answer him, the sound of sirens cut through the air. "The police?! Fuck!" He angrily kicked at an end display and it toppled to the floor; the impulse items scattered across the floor, some landing at the feet of the hostages. "What are they doing here?"

"Someone probably heard you shoot the cashier." When she said it, she knew it was unlikely as she and Joe were the most likely to have heard it and they hadn't, but she didn't want his attention to go to Joe.

"Oh man. Fuck!" He repeated. "They weren't supposed to show up. Now what do I do?"

Nancy took a deep breath, and started to stand, holding up her hands as though proving herself to be harmless. "First of all you need to calm down. This could be a chance for you to get what you want."

He turned quickly, cocking the gun. "Sit back down!"

Joe, who had long since halted any pretense of trying to open the register, resisted the urge to walk out and further agitate him, but nearly had a coronary when Nancy didn't comply with the man's order.

"The police are going to call here in a minute to talk to you." Nancy's voice was unfathomably calm despite the gun being pointed directly in her face. "You'll be able to make some demands, and they'll try and give them to you. But only if you try and give them something."

"Oh, and you're just a great big fucking expert?"

Joe took the opportunity to jump in. "We're private detectives. We've been here once or twice."

"I wasn't talking to you!" The gun swung around to Joe and he jumped back a little.

"OK. Spontaneous talking isn't good for your blood pressure. I'll put that down on your list of fun facts."

"Back to the police," Nancy interjected calmly, "when they call, you'll want to prove that you can be reasoned with. The first thing you should do is let them know that you're sending someone out. You can release them." She gestured to the little girl and her father.

The robber shook his head. "Oh no. I've seen cop shows. I know stuff. You send out your hostages and you lose your bargaining chips. The police won't give you shit without those."

Nancy mirrored the motion. "Those shows aren't real. You want money and a way out. You're going to have to earn it."

"I'm not some kind of idiot! I killed that guy! If I don't have anyone in here but me, they aren't going to give me that stuff; they're going to arrest me!"

"I never said you were going to give up all of us. As long as you have one other person, you have leverage."

The minute the word's left Nancy's mouth, Joe knew what she was planning on doing. He also knew that there was very little he could do to stop her from doing it. Nancy was going to volunteer herself to be the lone hostage.

* * *

Nancy's cheek was throbbing where the robber, whose name she had yet to learn in the two hours she had been in the store, had hit her. She knew it was bruising nicely, and was in fact, probably already a nice deep purple. Other than herself and the robber, the only other person left in the store was Joe. He had come out from behind the counter a while back, and was now sitting, leaning up against it, while she was across the way, at the end of the candy aisle. The robber had been unable to stop his pacing.

A glance down at her watch told Nancy that if they stuck to the schedule, Joe would be released in about five minutes. So far, all of the releases had gone off without a hitch, and the police had been assuring that they were getting the demanded money and getaway vehicle prepared. Nancy knew two things; the police were doing no such thing, and Joe was not going to leave quietly. He had enough chivalry in him that he wasn't going to leave someone, a woman no less, in a hostage situation, no matter how qualified she was to deal with it. Nancy wasn't sure what he would do, but imagined that something would be tried.

Nancy was trying to come up with the most basic plan of how she might assist Joe, when a key chain hit her knee. A glance at his outstretched leg told her that Joe had kicked it over, from its place in the mess on the floor. She looked over to him.

Joe looked at her pointedly, then brought his hand up to his nose and tilted his head backwards.

Nancy frowned, and brought her fingers up to her face. She didn't think that her nose was bleeding. Sure enough, it wasn't. She raised an eyebrow at Joe.

Joe shook his head. He repeated the actions.

Nancy sighed. Joe had never gotten the memo that she was just no good at charades. She shrugged, trying to convey her confusion.

"Fake it." Joe hissed in his lowest whisper.

It hit Nancy that this was probably Joe's plan. After checking to see that the robber's attention hadn't been caught yet, she covered her nose with her hand, pinching it slightly. "Hey, I'm getting a nosebleed."

He turned, looking more than a little annoyed with this news. "So?"

"So unless you want my blood all over the place, I need some tissues or something. Do you mind if I grab a box from the shelf?"

Nancy guessed that she hadn't quite followed Joe's plan when he let his head fall back against the counter, a slightly dejected look on his face. If he confronted her later, she would have to blame him; he wasn't being at all clear about what he wanted.

"Go on." He waved his free hand giving her the OK. As Nancy stood and walked down the first aisle, he tacked on, "It's not like you're not running the show anyway."

"I know how you feel, man." Joe started when he heard the comment. "We work together a lot and she is always just taking charge."

Nancy rolled her eyes and turned around so she was facing the pair again. Joe was simply doing his part to keep the guy distracted. She watched the two carefully from her position a few feet behind the man.

"A real control-freak bitch, is she?"

"The worst."

"Yeah, well once we're out of here I'm gonna teach her a thing or two about control."

Nancy took that opportunity to charge him, lowering her shoulders and tackling him at his knees. The force knocked the wind out of her lungs, and her heart nearly stopped when the gun went off. Only moments later, Joe was up, getting the gun away from the robber, and little crumbs of plaster were falling from the ceiling telling her that no one had been hurt. They were practically home free.

* * *

"So, you want to explain what you were thinking in there?" Joe asked Nancy a few hours later as they walked back to the hotel after giving the police their statements. The rain had slowed a bit, and both were tired enough that they didn't want to bother with mirroring their morning sprint.

"What?" Nancy shrugged.

"You could have been shot when you tackled him."

"I trusted that you were distracting him enough."

"I was trying to lull him into a false sense of security so he would be surprised when _I_ jumped up and tackled him."

"Well, then you would be the one he could have shot." Nancy pointed out. "How is that any different?"

"Well..." Joe struggled a little to come up with a reason; it was a pretty valid argument. Then he remembered. "Because I'm not the one who was on my second hare-brained, potentially deadly scheme of the night. You were maneuvering yourself to be the lone hostage. How stupid was that? He could have raped you, killed you--,"

"And that would still make five other people that he didn't kill or do anything else to." Nancy cut him off. "The way I see it, in a situation like that you want to minimize damage. I wasn't about to let that little girl get killed, or have her grow up without a father because he did something stupid trying to save her, and that couple didn't deserve anything to happen to them either. That left you or me. And given the fact that you have a family that you can go home to, and the fact that I have--," Nancy stopped talking and walking at a buzzing in her pocket. She pulled out her cell phone and quickly answered it. "Hello?"

Joe didn't need her to finish her sentence to know what she was thinking. Nancy figured that she was the easy sacrifice since she was probably already dying. It was stupid in his opinion. It hadn't even been confirmed that she was sick, and even if she was, it wasn't necessarily a death sentence. He also couldn't put much stock in her implication that she didn't have any family to go home to; even if they weren't blood relations, there were plenty of people in River Heights that would be devastated if she were to be killed, not to mention the members of his own family.

"All right. No, I'll definitely get right on that. Thank you." Nancy hung up the phone and shoved it back into her pocket, with an unreadable expression on her face.

It hit Joe that that might have been _the _call. "Who was that?" He asked, trying not to sound too anxious.

"My doctor's office."

"And?" He prompted when she didn't say anything else.

"And it's not cancer." After she spoke the words it seemed to hit Nancy what that meant. "Holy shit, it's not cancer. I'm not dying!" A broad smile broke out on her face and she threw her arms around Joe in a tight hug.

"That's great!"

After a moment Nancy pulled away, but grabbed onto Joe's hand. She started walking again at much faster pace. "This just turned into a celebration. We have to get our stuff and get to the park. I want to see that Main Street Electrical Parade everyone's always talking about."

Despite the fact that it was getting close to the evening hours Joe wasn't sure that that plan would work. "You know that it's raining, right?"

"Who the hell cares? That just means it will be less crowded."

Joe didn't have the heart to tell her the fact that she probably would have noticed were it not for her euphoria. Electricity and the rain don't mix.

* * *

Thoughts? I was tempted to leave the chapter before telling you Nancy's test results, but what I've decided to do with updates is post several chapters that deal with one subplot type thing. What this means for you is longer periods of time between updates, but less major cliffhangers.

And, the Main Street Electrical Parade technically isn't at Disney World anymore, but they bring it back on occasion and they most certainly (at least I would hope) will be bringing it back for the 55th anniversary of the park in 2010, so if you want, you can pretend that the story takes place, then, it won't really change anything.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own and am not affiliated with Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, or any of the characters associated with them. I also do not own or am affiliated with any pop culture references that I may choose to include.

Author's Notes: Surprise! Yeah, I'm not dead. I know it's been a while, but, if anyone is still reading, then I hope you like what I have now. For clarification, this chapter, much like the update, takes place a month or two after the last one.

* * *

_I wanna pull it apart_

_And put it back together_

_I wanna relive all my adolescent dreams_

* * *

Nancy blew a loose strand of her hair away from her face as she picked up her laundry basket, full of clothes ready to be folded. She balanced it on her hip and held it with one hand as she closed the dryer door. Nancy was bringing the basket into the living room when the doorbell sounded loudly. She finished the walk, figuring that at the mid-morning hour of a weekday, it couldn't be anyone that important; everyone that she would have expected it to be was busy. She put the basket on the coffee table. The doorbell rang again.

"I'll be there in a minute!" Nancy called. She brushed her hands off on the sides of her legs, and then went to the door. She twisted the lock and opened it. "Joe." She gave the young man a puzzled smile. "What are you doing here?"

The blond shrugged. "I felt like going for a drive."

Nancy took in his appearance. He had his leather jacket on, and a backpack slung over his shoulder. If she had to hazard a guess, she would say that Joe hadn't slept, and a peek into the driveway revealed his motorcycle. He had probably ridden through the night. She chose not to bring up the fact, curious as to what he would reveal without much prodding. "I thought you were supposed to be studying for your finals." She knew this mainly because she was planning on making her way to Bayport next week, when his exams would be over, to attend his graduation.

"I've got my books." Joe shrugged again.

"Well…come in." Nancy swung the door open wider, and stepped aside for his entry.

"Thanks." Joe came in, and kicked off his shoes. As Nancy closed the door, he looked her over, and took in her haphazard hair, athletic shorts, and oversized tee-shirt. "Did I wake you up or something?"

Nancy shook her head, relocking the door. "You caught me on laundry day. I haven't gotten dressed yet. Let me get your bag." She reached over and grabbed the strap of his backpack as he started to shrug out of, and pulled it off of his arm. "What have you got in here?" She asked, balking somewhat at the weight.

"My textbooks, my laptop, a couple of sets of clothes."

"Well…aren't you prepared,"

"I just grabbed some stuff last night. I figured it would be enough for a couple of days." Joe explained as they reached the living room. "That is…if I can stay here for a couple of days." He turned to face Nancy. "I should have called and asked, I know, but it was this spur-of-the-moment thing and--,"

Nancy cut him off. "Joe, relax. Of course you can stay. It's not like you're imposing on any big plans. It's laundry day." She deadpanned. "I'll go put this in the guest room for you."

"Thanks, Nance."

"It's not a problem. I'll be back in a minute. Make yourself at home." Nancy made it all of three steps when she came to the conclusion that if it was a spur-of-the-moment trip then his family was probably waiting for some kind of phone call. Wondering if they would be more forthcoming with information about what was going on, she turned back around and held the bag out. "On second thought, why don't you have a shower and get some of that road trip grime off? I'll put some coffee on and get the guestroom set up."

"A nice, hot, shower does sound pretty good."

"Well that settles it. You remember where the bathroom is, right?"

"I think I can manage to find it."

"All right. Take your time."

Joe took his bag and started down the hall. Nancy watched him round the corner before she picked the phone up from its place next to the laundry basket and dialed. As she waited for an answer she started to sift through her clothes. She pulled out a pair of jeans and was grabbing a shirt when a stressed male voice finally answered.

"Hello?"

"Frank! Hi!" Nancy smiled, cradling the phone between her ear and her shoulder. "I haven't spoken to you in forever. How are you?"

"Nancy, I don't have time to talk right now." Frank replied shortly.

Nancy started into the kitchen to get the coffee machine going. "Well hello to you too. I see we're in a cheery mood this morning."

"We need the phone free."

"What? Why?"

"Joe's missing. There's no sign of him anywhere."

"You mean he didn't even leave a note?"

"Wait, you know where he is?"

Nancy searched the drawers for a clean coffee filter. "Yeah. My shower."

"What?"

"I was just calling to let you guys know that he got here safely."

"So he's in River Heights?"

"He showed up on my doorstep about five minutes ago." Nancy confirmed. "You really didn't know about any of this?"

"Does it sound like I did? Last night Mom, Dad, and I went out for ice cream, and Joe insisted on staying home to start studying. When we got back he was gone. We've been looking for him all night. So have the police."

"He rode his bike. Didn't anyone think to check the garage?"

"Joe leaves notes."

"Apparently he doesn't." Nancy sighed at the trouble Joe seemed to have caused. "Look, I'm sure he just wasn't thinking straight. Can you think of any reason why he would run away?"

"No. He was fine when we left."

"Well, he seemed pretty upset when he got here." Nancy countered.

Frank lost a bit of his patience. "Look, can you just put him on the phone so I can yell at him? And then pass the phone to my parents so they can yell at him? And then they can pass the phone to Chief Collig so _he_ can yell at him."

"No can do." Nancy started out of the kitchen with the coffee maker starting its work. She paused in the living room to pick up the clothes she had grabbed earlier and then started up to her room to change. "I get the feeling that yelling at him will only make things worse. Especially when you don't know what's wrong in the first place."

And a little more of his patience slipped away. "What is he even doing at your house anyway?"

"I wouldn't know. I haven't really had the chance to talk to him yet." Nancy answered, maintaining as calm of a tone as she could. "I'm guessing that he has some kind of problem in Bayport that he wants to get away from for a while." She slipped out of her shorts and into her jeans as she spoke.

"That's ridiculous. If Joe has a problem he always comes to me first."

"Well, maybe he--,"

"Hello, Nancy?" A new male voice came over the line, cutting Nancy off.

Nancy frowned. "Fenton?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I didn't think you deserved to be on the receiving end of Frank's rant so I took the phone away from him." Fenton explained. "Now, you said that Joe was with you?"

"Yeah. He's taking a shower. He didn't really say anything but…"

Fenton sighed heavily. "I get the feeling that he's more upset about some news that Frank gave us last night than he was letting on."

"Frank had news?"

"I'll let Joe explain it to you. I will say that I'm not that happy about it either, but I imagine that it's harder on Joe than me. Does he have anything with him?"

"He mentioned his books and a couple days worth of clothes."

"Good. I think a couple of days away from here might do him some good."

"So you want him to stay awhile." Nancy nodded, working on switching shirts without losing the phone.

"I think it would be a good idea as long as it wouldn't be imposing on you."

"No, it wouldn't be a problem."

"Good. Have him call us sometime today, OK?"

"Of course."

"All right. I assume you're doing well?"

"Yeah. That vacation did me wonders."

"I'm glad to hear it. I'm sure we'll be talking soon. Thank you for looking out for Joe."

"It's not a problem Fenton."

"All right. I'll let you go."

"OK. I'll have Joe call you tonight. Bye."

"Bye."

Nancy hung up the phone and tossed it onto her bed. She finished changing, and then left her room in favor of going to the guestroom to prepare it. After a quick stop at the hall closet to grab some sheets, she was in the room making the bed and wondering what Frank could have possibly said to make Joe upset enough to run away.

"Nancy?" She was barely disrupted in her work by Joe's call.

"In the guestroom!" She shouted back.

A few moments later, Joe was entering the room with wet hair, in jeans and a tee-shirt. "You know, you didn't have to change on my behalf." He smiled. "We're practically family."

Nancy rolled her eyes. "In that case, I guess I can be the one to lecture you about not leaving a not for your parents. They were up all night, along with the Bayport Police, searching for you."

"Umm…oops?" Joe offered with an innocent smile.

"I'm not the one you should say that to."

"Yeah. I'll call them." Joe didn't bother asking why she had called his parents to begin with. He knew her well enough to know that she was probably just being considerate for him. "I suppose you want to know what's going on."

"If you want to tell it."

Joe stepped further in and grabbed half of the sheet to help Nancy. "Frank's not going to be a private detective."

Nancy barely stopped her jaw from dropping in shock. "You're kidding."

"Oh yeah." He glowered. "This is my big elaborate joke for the year."

"But…being a private detective and opening an office with you is all that he's mentioned about his future for…ever."

"Well…he was seduced by the dark side."

Nancy knew what that meant. "Which agency got to him?"

"Who else but the FBI?" Joe commented. There was no missing the bitter tone in his voice. "I should have expected it. I mean, after we took the case at Quantico he talked about it all the time."

"So what? He just decided that once he graduates he's going to sign up?"

"Not exactly."

"Then…what?"

"Apparently they're in desperate need of field agents that have specialties so they've arranged it so that he doesn't need to take any of his prerequisite courses at school. He's just been taking course for his criminology major and doing training with the FBI in his spare time. He'll graduate next year, and instead of Quantico, he'll go through a two week final exam of sorts. Then he's a full-fledged FBI agent."

"So…they're just going to let him shoot people before he can legally drink?"

"You caught on to that too, huh?"

"What did your parents say?"

"They're not that happy, but they're still proud of him. It's not every day that your son is invited to participate in the experimental entry program of an elite government agency."

Nancy glanced down at the now made bed, and then grabbed Joe's elbow to start guiding him to the kitchen. "Well, I'm guessing that you didn't just up and leave out of your absolute thrill for him."

"More like absolute pissed off-ness. I can't believe he would just sign up for something like this without talking to me about it." Joe revealed. "There's never been _anything_ that he's done that I haven't known about him thinking about him doing first. Hell," Joe sighed, sitting down on one of the stools at the breakfast bar, "I knew about his first kiss with Callie two dates before it happened."

Nancy almost snorted. She turned her back to Joe and opened one cupboard, removing two coffee mugs. "He's always been a planner."

"And that's what I don't get." Joe nodded. "We've been planning to open up our own agency after college for as long as I can remember. And he's just said no to that. Without a word to me. I'm his brother. I'm supposed to be his best friend. But he didn't tell me."

"That explains Frank's problem." Nancy muttered under her breath in realization.

Joe looked over, confused and momentarily distracted from his anger. "What?"

"Nothing." Nancy dismissed, shaking her head. "Look, you know I have, like, no advice to offer you about this. I can't possibly relate. I don't have a brother, or even a best friend, that has done something like this to me. At the same time, I want to help."

"Right now, I just want to study. I can't let this screw up school. Especially now that I'm going to have to rethink everything."

Nancy filed that remark away for a later time. "In that case, I can be the taskmistress that keeps you on track. But I should warn you that I run a tight ship when it comes to studying."

"Sounds like what I'll need."

* * *

OK, I know the FBI thing completely wouldn't happen, but it was a step that I could see the logical character of Frank making.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own and am not affiliated with Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, or any of the characters associated with them. I also do not own or am affiliated with any pop culture references that I may choose to include.

Author's Notes: This chapter contains underage drinking, language, sexual discussion. All of this is really covered by the rating, but consider yourself warned in any case.

* * *

_She said "Give me that hand please, _

_And the itch you can't control._

_Let me teach you how to handle all the sadness in your soul."_

* * *

"And eventually there is an environmental trigger that causes the bacterial cells to lyse, releasing the virus into the organism's system."

"That's great Joe." Nancy smiled, closing his textbook. "I think you'll pass these exams, no problem." The two had been studying essentially non-stop for the past three days. Nancy was relatively confident that she could take the tests and pass, even though she hadn't taken half of the classes Joe was studying for.

Joe relaxed a bit, leaning back in his chair. "I hope so."

"Trust me. You know this stuff, backwards and forwards. Now," Nancy put the textbook on the coffee table and stood. "I believe I promised you a relaxed night of fun before we head to Bayport tomorrow." Nancy had altered her travel plans to go a few days sooner, and they had rented a small trailer to bring Joe's motorcycle back on, if only for the purposes of being a bit more efficient.

"That's right." Joe clapped his hands together. "What have you got planned for me?"

"Well, it's not much. I figured we can't have too late of a night since we have to leave first thing tomorrow morning, so I just dug out some movies." Once she had retrieved several DVD cases from the shelf near her television, she passed them over to Joe. "I'm extremely well stocked on frozen pizza, popcorn, and other various items that were never in the house when I wanted them in my pre-adolescent years."

"Sounds fine to me." Joe shrugged shuffling through the cases. "Let's see…Ghostbusters 1 and 2, Clue…These are some pretty classic movies. Better than I would have expected."

Nancy grinned wryly. "I'll take that as a compliment. I'm going to go throw one of the pizzas into the oven. Pick out what you want to watch first."

"You know, it's too bad we're not a few years older. We could go out and pick up some supplies for this game I know. It would work great with these." Joe was musing, mostly to himself, although Nancy could hear him from her place in the kitchen.

"Tsk tsk Joe. Playing drinking games at your age." She admonished lightheartedly.

"Well, we can't all have a constant caseload to occupy ourselves with. We have to act like normal teenagers once in a while."

Nancy came back into the living room, with a bottle in either hand. "Tequila or vodka?" Joe regarded her, dumfounded. At his non-answer she continued. "I also have whiskey, scotch…pretty much anything, really."

"You didn't buy that with a fake ID, did you?" Joe knew that the question wasn't entirely logical, considering whom he was talking to, but at the same time, he thought it might be; the Nancy that he knew wouldn't have brought out the bottles in the first place.

"The funny thing about your dad dying is that they don't take away his booze." Before Joe could ask any questions about the comment, she placed the two bottles on coffee table. "Now, you've intrigued me with this game. Do you want to play it, or no?"

* * *

"All right…True or false. How old were you when you lost your virginity?" Joe knew there was something wrong with what he had said, and it wasn't just that he was saying it to Nancy. In fact, he was pretty sure it had more to do with how close to being drunk he was. Joe wasn't entirely convinced that this was a bad thing. Yes, his parents would be non-too-happy with him if they were to find out, and it _was_ breaking the law, but on the plus side he was in a house that he had no intention of leaving while drunk, the alcohol was proving to be a great release, and he and Nancy were having a great time with it.

Nancy lowered her glass, a tumbler that was now mostly ice with just a hint of scotch, to the coffee table with a loud click. Their shot glasses from the game had long since been abandoned and they had opted to just start drinking as they pleased. "False." If Joe was close to being drunk, she was all the way; it would have been more even, except Joe had taken her to town at the bizarre movie trivia drinking game they had been playing.

Joe looked over, surprised. "You and Ned never…" he trailed off.

"Nope…We probably would've, but by the time I was ready we had split and he was all up in Bunny…or Buffy…or Bitsy…or whatever the hell her name's business from the legal department. What about you? Has Joe become a man yet?"

"Since 16."

"Ooh." She catcalled in a singsong voice. "Mr. Experience."

"And I've gotten good responses. Maybe that's what I'll do now that there's not gonna be an agency…" He mused, leaning his head back against the couch that his back already rested against.

"What? Have sex?"

"Why not?" He shrugged, reaching forward for his own glass of whiskey. "I'm apparently good at it. I look good. I could even look better if I worked out more. I could totally be Richard Gere in American Gigolo."

"You," Nancy turned and jabbed a finger into his chest, "need to stop talking like you have no future. Every time we haven't been studying, all you've been doing is moping around about what to do with your life now that Frank has opted out of your plans."

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do." Joe protested.

Nancy rolled her eyes. "Poor you. You've got the whole world of careers at your feet and at least four years to explore it all. It must be so terrible for you."

"Whoa." Joe's eyes widened. "Sarcasm much?"

"Yeah. So?"

"So…why?"

Nancy downed the rest of her scotch. "Guess how many cases I've solved since the attack."

"I don't know."

"Really? Guess. You never will."

"15."

"Ennh." Nancy did her best imitation of a game show buzzer, and then giggled. "You, my friend, are severely overestimating me. The correct answer is zero. Zilch. Nada. Zippo. The big goose egg. Brenda fricken Carlton has done more investigating then I have."

Joe's jaw dropped. "No shit."

"Yes shit."

"Why not?"

"Can't do it. Dad's the reason I started being all snoopy. Now he's not that there to be my mentor. I can't solve stuff without my Yoda."

"Do what you told me to do then. Explore your horizons or center yourself or whatever."

"Can't."

"Why not?"

"I'm not going back to college. I'm too stupid."

"You're not stupid. Stupid people don't get into college. You know how I know? Jimmy Martins. Guy's a complete idiot. Didn't get accepted to a single school. Although now that I think about it, I'm not sure that he applied to any."

"Well if he had gotten in, I'm sure Jimmy what's his face wouldn't have gotten himself kicked out."

"You got kicked out?" Joe scoffed. "No way." He shook his head. "You're too good to get kicked out. You don't break rules. You're a virgin for fuck's sake."

"What's that got to do with it?"

"I don't know…But it has something to do with being a goody two-shoes."

"Well, I did. I didn't get an absence thingy from school so they kicked me out for being not there."

"That's bullshit. Your dad was dying. You should fight that shit."

"I did. That's how I got the money back. But no school for me." She paused long enough to lean forward, grab the bottle of scotch and take a long swig. "But you're the only one who knows, so you have to keep it real quiet." The bottle went back to the table and Nancy giggled as she held a finger up to her lips. "Shhh…" The hushing didn't last very long before she exploded into more laughter. "You see? My life is going to be sitting around this house doing jack shit and I'm having a blast. You need to stop being such a worrier. There's a ton of shit out there for you."

* * *

Joe was snoring, and it was bugging Nancy. He had fallen asleep or passed out, Nancy wasn't sure which, nearly half an hour ago. It didn't really matter which it was. Either way, he was a lightweight, and she was bored. Nancy had _far_ too much energy to possibly go to sleep. But that wasn't really an issue seeing as how she had thought of something to do. The perfect release.

Nancy stared intently at the phone in her hand, and dialed with one finger fumbling over the buttons. It took a moment of concentration, but when she had finished and the phone was ringing, she rose to her feet, pushing off of the coffee table.

"Hello?" A sleepy voice answered after the third ring.

"Frank! Hi!"

"Uhh…hi...Nancy?"

"Yeah. What do you want?"

"To know what you want. You called me."

"Right." Nancy started to walk around, more focused on her conversation then where she was going. "I was just calling because you need to know that…"She trailed off. "I forgot. What do you need to know?"

"Why you called me."

"Well, if I remembered that then I would just tell you. Duh."

"Nancy."

"Oh! I got it!" Nancy announced proudly. "You need to know that you suck."

"I do?"

"Yeah. You're…bad."

"I'm pretty sure I'm going to regret this, but why?"

"'Cause you pretend to be all good. A nice guy that you can trust. With really great hear and those pretty eyes. You seduce people. And then you stab them in the back. Because you suck."

"Nancy, I'm really confused. What is this about?"

"Your brother thinks he has no future." She blurted. "You're going all secret agent and you didn't tell him, and he's lost. You guys had plans, and you just chucked them aside, because you suck," she tacked on, none-too-gracefully, "and he doesn't know what to do now. He was looking me in the eyes, and I was looking him in the eyes, and there were a lot of eyes that were very good looking, and his were saying that he was sad. And you know why?"

"Because I suck."

"Because you're a jackass…who sucks."

"Nancy, where are you?"

"My stairs." And as she reviewed said staircase, Nancy decided that going up them was far too daunting a task and that they would be an excellent place to sit down.

"And where's Joe?"

"The couch."

"Can I talk to him please?"

"Nope. He's asleep, and I'm not waking him up for a sucky jackass. Joe didn't let anyone bug me, and I gotta do the same, 'cause there's something about doing to him what I want him to do to me, and since I was sad and he made it better, then I've got to do it for him because he's sad now. Because of you. Because you suck."

"Nancy…"

"I'm gonna go now. You have a good night."

* * *

"Who was that?" A drowsy Callie asked, rolling over and placing a hand on Frank's arm.

Frank, who had sat up while on the phone, placed it back on the bedside table. "Nancy Drew. I'm pretty sure she was drunk."

Callie frowned. "From what you've told me about her, that doesn't sound right at all. What did she want?"

"To tell me that I suck." He paused briefly, just long enough to turn around and face his girlfriend. "Did I screw up?"

"With what, her?"

"Taking the job at the FBI."

"Frank, the FBI job is your dream. It would have been a screw up not to take it. You know that. What's this really about?"

Frank sighed. "She said that Joe is upset and that he thinks he has no future."

Callie took pause after this remark and sat up. "I wouldn't take it too seriously." She smiled wryly when she met Frank's eyes. "You said yourself that she was drunk. You know better than to trust anyone's word when they're like that."

"But if--,"

"Shh…" She urged, gently placing a finger on Frank's lips. "Joe's fine. He knows that you've wanted the FBI. If you had talked to him about it back when it was offered, he would have completely supported you. You're worried over nothing."

"But I didn't talk to him about it."

Callie sighed. "Frank. He's your brother. He understands. Nancy's probably making a mountain out of a molehill because she noticed him moping over Vanessa. But if it's really bothering you, they'll be back in town tomorrow afternoon. You can talk to him then."

"You're right." Frank started to lie back down, adjusting the blankets. Callie followed suit. "I mean, for all I know, she's still torn up over her dad and alcohol made her screw up her pronouns. Mom, Dad, and I will have to check in on her while she's in town."

"See?" Callie threw her arm across his chest. "Everything's fine. Now…let's see if we can't get a couple more hours of sleep."

* * *

OK, I meant for this update to have a chapter or two more, but while I have the majority of the next chapter written, the end is just not working no matter what I try. I'll try to have it up soon, and hopefully once all of my college applications and such are in, and I do my senior speech, things will calm down and I'll have more time to write.

Thoughts?


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own and am not affiliated with Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, or any of the characters associated with them. I also do not own or am affiliated with any pop culture references that I may choose to include.

Author's Notes: Hi, thanks to all reviewers. It's been a while, but it's still way faster than the last chapters were. It's really the little victories in life, don't you think?

There have been some comments about Callie's portrayal, and I would just like to let you know, it's a deliberate characterization that will eventually be explained, as will Frank's.

* * *

_Toss up my heart and see where it lands_

_On and on. I just keep on trying._

_And I smile when I feel like dying._

* * *

Nancy awoke with a crick in practically every joint in her body, a pounding headache and confusion as to why had been sleeping on the staircase. It took several moments for some memories of the night before to come back to her. "That was not a good idea." She murmured, bringing her hands up to rub at her temples.

As she woke up a bit more, she took notice of the sun streaming in some of the windows. "You've got to be shitting me." She groaned. A glance at her watch confirmed the fact; it was the middle of the morning. "Fuck. Joe!" She called out, wincing at the volume of her own voice. She hoisted herself up off of the stairs, and started to walk back towards the living room, fighting back the nausea that movement caused. "Joe! Get your ass up, now!"

"What?" Joe barely opened an eye from his spot sprawled on the couch.

"We overslept. We have to leave like…now if we want to get to Bayport by dinner."

"You're kidding me." Joe began to rouse himself.

Nancy threw her hands onto her hips. "Does it look like I'm laughing?"

"OK. Sarcasm is not so funny right now."

"Get your stuff together." Nancy started to gather up the empty glasses and bottles to bring into the kitchen. "We need to get going. We can figure out food, and…whatever else on the road."

"Bad plan." Joe shook his head. "We're going to a house full of detectives. If we show up looking anything like this they'll know that something is up."

Nancy sighed, running a hand through her hair. It did feel absolutely disgusting. "Fine. Take a five minute shower, get some aspirin from the medicine cabinet, and then bring your stuff out to the car. If we don't leave in ten minutes or less we'll need to come up with an excuse other than traffic to explain why we're late."

* * *

"So about last night…" Joe started. The pair was a couple of hours into their drive, and feeling a bit more human. They had just stopped for gas for the first time, and Nancy had taken over driving. Joe saw it as a decent enough time to talk about what had happened the night before; no matter when they did it, it would be awkward, and the way he figured, it would be better to just get it out of the way. "What you said…"

"I said a lot of things, Joe." Nancy briefly took her eyes away from the road to glance at him. "And you didn't even hear half of it." She tacked on, underneath her breath.

Joe frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I might have…drunk dialed your brother last night."

"I…don't know what to say to that. What did you say?"

Nancy refused to look over. "Just something stupid. I don't even really remember."

"Liar." Joe challenged.

"What?"

"You're lying. You just don't want to tell me what you said to Frank. Which means it must have been embarrassing. Oh, I know." Joe's eyes twinkled, his original line of discussion practically forgotten by this point. "You told him what a stud you think he is."

"First of all, I do not think that he's a stud."

Joe raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

"Yes really. I may have…had a crush on him at one time in my life, but that part of my life is… so over."

"Well, what did you say then? You might as well tell me, you know I'll find out eventually."

"I don't remember, Joe." Nancy repeated, a bit more forcefully. "Now, what were you going to say a minute ago?"

Joe filed everything from the conversation away, knowing that he wouldn't make any progress with Nancy at this point, and turned to her question. He _had_ started the exchange with a purpose. "What you said last night about the whole, no mysteries, no school thing."

"Joe, I don't really want to get into this."

"You have to get into it eventually. I mean, you can't just spend the rest of your life doing nothing Nancy. You'll get bored. And it would be a waste."

"Look, I probably said some things last night that I shouldn't have." Nancy started. "I mean, I haven't figured out what I am going to be doing with myself yet, and yeah, it's a little frustrating, so the alcohol really blew things out of proportion. This further proves that what we did was stupid but…I am planning on doing something. I know I can't just sit on my ass the rest of my life and I'm not going to." She briefly paused. "How would it be a waste?"

He gave her a pointed look. "How would it not be? You're the only person I know besides dad and…like, MacGyver, who can come up with crazy ways to get out of bad situations and have them work. And you're great at reading people…and solving mysteries. It seems to me like all you need to do is get your license."

"It's not that simple."

"If you quit…" Joe stopped. "I know it's got to be hard, trying to do something that you're used to doing without someone that you're used to being there. But if it's about having someone to bounce ideas off of, or just point you in the right direction…If you ever want to try and work mysteries again, I could be that person."

"I'm not going to--," Nancy was going to shoot him down, but thought better of it, and gave him a small smile. "Thank you."

To be honest, Joe was surprised that no one had come rushing out of the house when their car had pulled into the driveway. He and Nancy had arrived nearly five minutes ago, but as of yet, had not even unbuckled their seatbelts. He almost wished that someone had come out to start yelling at him. In many ways, a non-response much more ominous then having something happen.

"How long do you want to sit here for?" Nancy asked quietly. She was waiting to exit the car to give Joe some level of support. She figured that he would be facing a good lecture if nothing else. There was also the small matter of not wanting to face Frank after the previous night's phone call, but if anyone were to ask, her only motivation for procrastination was to be a friend for Joe.

"I figure it ought to be at least until midnight. Mom and Dad are usually in bed by then." Joe shrugged.

"And Frank?"

"He'll probably leave around eight to go out and see Callie. We'll drive around the block a couple of times to avoid him."

"As long as you have a plan."

Joe shot her a teasing look. "Don't act like you don't like part. You don't want to see Frank after last night. You couldn't possibly."

"That may be, but I can hide behind your parents, who know nothing of last night, whereas you--," Nancy was cut off by her cell phone ringing. "Hold on a second." She dug it out of her pocket, glanced at the screen and quickly answered. "Hi, how are you?...Oh, I'm good…No, that's probably true…OK, I'll tell him…yeah…see you in a bit." She hung up quickly.

"My parents?" Joe guessed.

"Your mother." Nancy nodded. "She wants me to tell you that you can stop sweating it, you're grounded until after graduation except for functions necessary for school, and not to do it again. The subject will thus forth not be raised, so we can go inside."

Joe sighed. "I guess that does mean that we can't put off any longer." He reached over with one hand to open the door, and had released the latch when he turned back to face Nancy once more. "You're sure that this isn't a trap? My mother can be a devious woman."

"I'm pretty sure. But if you're scared I can go in first to brave any enemy fire."

"You're my hero."

* * *

"No, he's definitely ready for his exams." Nancy nodded. The Hardy family was just finishing up their dinner, and the conversation had turned to whether or not Joe had actually studied for his upcoming finals. "I had to get a little tough on him, but when push came to shove--,"

"A little tough?" Joe raised an eyebrow incredulously. He had loosened up a bit when no immediate yelling or disapproving glares had been directed his way. Frank was even much calmer than he would have imagined based on what Nancy had told him. "You were a regular study machine. It was all I could do to get a five minute break."

"A little work never hurt anybody." Nancy chastised.

"In that case, you won't mind helping me out with the dishes." Frank quipped, picking up his own plate and reaching over for his mother's.

Laura shot her son a look. "Frank, Nancy's a guest. She doesn't have to do anything."

"It's fine Laura." Nancy hoped her smile didn't appear too tight. She wasn't entirely thrilled with the prospect of spending time with Frank based on her last two conversations with him; it wasn't that she was worried about what he would say, or about anything for that matter, but she certainly wasn't looking forward to what sure to be either a dressing down, an interrogation, or both. Nevertheless, avoiding it would most likely only make things worse in the end. "Frank and I haven't had the chance to talk in a long time." She stood and started to gather dishes as well. "We could use some time to catch up."

Laura sighed, still clearly in disapproval. "If you're sure."

"We'll just take our drinks into the living room, and leave you be." Fenton cut in, rising from the table. He, Laura, and Joe left while Frank started to the sink with his first handful of dishes.

Nancy and Frank bussed the dishes from the table in silence for over two minutes before Frank spoke. He stopped his movement and turned to face Nancy. "So…" he started awkwardly.

"Look, about last night, I should explain." Nancy cut in a bit more confidently then Frank's tone suggested he was. She had decided that taking control was the key point in maintaining any semblance of her dignity. "I had…had a few drinks."

"Gee, you don't say?" Frank commented wryly. He turned back to the sink to rinse out some glasses. "From my end it sounded like you were drunk."

Nancy blushed. So much for that plan. "I guess you could call it that. But I said what I said—,"

"That I suck." Frank cut in. "I believe that was your, oh-so-eloquent wording."

"I said that because I was--,"

"Drunk. I'm pretty sure we established that two seconds ago. Do you get drunk a lot?"

Nancy stopped all movement, affronted by the suggestion. "Excuse me?"

"It's a simple question." Frank shrugged. "Do you get drunk a lot?"

"No."

He turned back around once more to face her. "Nancy, I'm not trying to accuse you of anything or--,"

"Yes, you are." Nancy started her work again, cutting past him to the sink. "And you're being absolutely ridiculous."

"Nancy," Frank laid a gentle hand onto her shoulder, "no one would blame you if you were having trouble with your dad's death."

"I'm not." Nancy shook her head, reaching for a sponge to start scrubbing at the pile of plates.

Frank sighed. "Look. We're all here for you. _I'm _here for you. And you can always come to talk to me. If you ever feel like you need to do something to forget your life--,"

"OK." Nancy dropped the sponge and plate back into the sink with a bit of a clatter. "First of all, that is complete bullshit." She kept her voice low to prevent the occupants of the living room from noticing the argument. "If you were always available to talk to then Joe wouldn't have come to River Heights. Second, I didn't get drunk to forget anything or because I was depressed. Both Joe and I were drinking to celebrate a hard week of studying. It was my dad's alcohol, and last night was the first time that I've touched it since he died. So, as a matter of fact I do not have a drinking problem, or a coping problem for that matter. I have plenty of people to talk to when I do get upset, one of whom is your brother.

"I called you last night because I wanted to yell at someone about how upset Joe was about this whole thing, and given that I was drunk you seemed like a great option. Now, if you'll excuse me, as your mother pointed out, I don't really have to be doing this and I don't really feel like dealing with your little intervention."

Frank reached out to grab onto her wrist and turned her back around. "Nancy, I'm sorry, but you're worrying me."

"Well maybe instead of worrying about me, considering the fact that I'm fine, you should think about worrying about your brother."

He sighed, deflating a bit. "Is he really that upset about this?"

"From what he's said to me, yeah." Nancy pulled her wrist away, relaxing enough to speak calmly again. "He was broadsided by this decision of yours to go fed."

"No. That doesn't make sense. Joe knew that that was what I was thinking of doing. Just because it's a little bit sooner than it would have been without the FBI's help, doesn't mean it would have been some big shock."

"OK. I don't know what he was telling you, but everything that he said to me definitely said that he thought you guys were going to open your own agency after college. That's what you had mentioned to me for the most part."

"That was always a pipe dream. We were never serious about that."

"You need to talk to him then. Because he thought that you were."

Frank thought about it briefly but then shook his head. "No, that doesn't make sense. Callie agrees with me. She said that he always knew."

Nancy sighed. "Maybe I'll look into his story then."

* * *

"No." Joe shook his head quickly after Nancy had related the gist of what Frank had said to her.  
"The only time he ever said anything halfway serious to me about joining the FBI was right after our case at Quantico. Everything else has always been about our agency."

"He seemed pretty confident."

"Well, he's not right. I would have been a hell of a lot more prepared for this if he was."

"I'm not saying that you're wrong." Nancy cautioned, wanting to keep Joe from losing his cool. "It's just what Frank said when we were talking in the kitchen. You know, to be honest, I'm not sure that what's going on is entirely his fault."

Joe frowned. "What do you mean? Who else's fault could it be? Do you think the FBI planted thoughts into his head to make him join up?"

Nancy shrugged. "I doubt the FBI cares that much, but I think somebody did."

"I never pegged you for a conspiracy theory girl, Nance."

"It's not a theory if it's true." She grinned wryly. "Then it's just a conspiracy."

"And if you don't solve mysteries anymore how are you going to figure it out?" Joe asked. He had already quickly come to the conclusion that given his grounding, running his own investigation would be nigh impossible except for talking to his brother unless he wanted to get himself into more trouble. Given that Nancy seemed to want to help him out, he was wondering if he would be able to get her to do the work for him; after all she appeared to have the instinct about it already.

Nancy leaned back in her chair at Joe's desk. Joe was sitting on the edge of his bed while they talked. "This isn't a mystery. A mystery involves crime, and clues, and bad guys. This…is just something that needs to be found out."

"Sounds like a mystery to me."

"Well it's not." She paused. "I'll see what I can find out while you take your first exams tomorrow. Maybe Callie knows something."

"Good idea. She's working at The Steaming Mug. It's a coffee shop on Main Street. You'll be able to find her there, pretty much all day."

"Sounds like a good place to start then."

* * *

Nancy watched the young blond barista behind the counter under the pretense of looking at the menu, a few steps away from the counter as another customer was served. Callie was working diligently, but chatting idly with her customer, and smiling widely.

"Hi, welcome to the Steaming Mug, what can I get for you this morning?" Callie chirped as the first customer left. Her smile faltered briefly when she met eyes with Nancy. "Oh. Hey Nancy, how are you?"

"I'm good and you?" Nancy returned the smile, stepping up to the counter and shoving her hands into the back pockets of her jeans.

"Things with me are great." Callie nodded. "Can I get you anything?"

"A small hot chocolate would be great, thanks."

"Coming right up."

After a moment of Callie working, Nancy spoke up. "Actually, I came by because I was hoping we could talk."

Callie looked surprised as she placed the travel cup in front of Nancy. "Oh!...Um, yeah sure. It's about time for my break anyways. That's $ 2.50." Nancy handed over her money, and after Callie had put it into the register, she started to untie the apron she wore. "Liz, I'm taking my break." She called into the back room. "I'll be back in fifteen." She stepped in front of the counter after receiving an acknowledgement and looked to Nancy. "Why don't we go for a walk?"

"Sure." Nancy nodded, picking up her hot chocolate. "Let's go."

It wasn't until the pair was outside and walking that Callie spoke again. "So what did you want to talk about?"

"This must seem pretty weird to you."

"A little. I mean, we've only met once or twice. We're not exactly close friends Nancy."

"Well, I wanted to talk to you about the situation with Frank and Joe."

"What about it?"

"I'm going to be honest with you Callie. I know that you convinced Frank to join the FBI."

* * *

So there you have it. More explanation to come obviously.

Poll question: Would you prefer to see a bit of action/mystery, or keep things calm as they are? I have a plot for either direction, it's just a matter of choosing, and I'm having difficulties doing so. Let me know what you think.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own and am not affiliated with Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, or any of the characters associated with them. I also do not own or am affiliated with any pop culture references that I may choose to include.

Author's Notes: Hi everyone, thanks for the reviews and the feedback. It's very helpful.

* * *

_There's the pitch, slow and straight_

_All I have to do is swing and I'm a hero_

_But I'm a zero_

* * *

"Oh." Callie didn't reflect any surprise at Nancy's comment or even slow her walking.

Nancy however, did stop walking. She couldn't believe that she hadn't elicited a reaction. That one piece of information had been her trump card, and essentially it was all she had. If that didn't provoke Callie into confessing, she didn't have anything else to try. "That's it? You lied to Frank and told him that Joe would be OK with the FBI and I catch you, and all you can say is 'oh'."

"Well what do you want me to say?" Callie shrugged as she stopped. "Sorry, I promise won't ever do it again? Because that in itself would be a lie and I think that would be violating the whole promise thing."

"Callie, be serious."

"I am."

"And you really don't care that I know what you did? This could ruin you and Frank."

Callie rolled her eyes. "I really fail to see how that could happen, Nancy."

"You drove a wedge between him and Joe. His brother. His best friend. You don't get how that might be a problem?"

"No." She shook her head. "I get that it _could_ be a problem. But I _know_ that it won't be."

Nancy crossed her arms over chest, really disliking Callie's attitude. "What makes you so sure about that?"

"That's easy. You'll never tell anyone else about this."

"Like hell I won't."

"Oh please." Callie scoffed. "You won't tell anyone about this. If Frank and Joe make nice again, then the nice little arrangement that you and Joe have goes away."

Nancy frowned. "What arrangement?"

"Don't tell me that you think Joe suddenly became your best friend because of your winning personality. You couldn't possibly have been solving mysteries with Frank and Joe for so long with _that_ amount of naïveté. Joe started hanging out with you because he was bored and lonely without Frank around and it was nice to be around someone with an existence a bit more pathetic and depressing than his." Callie explained coldly. "The minute you tell either of them, or anyone else who would tell them, they reconcile, Frank most likely quits the FBI program, they open up their little detective agency after college, and both of them will occasionally speak to you on the major holidays or if they happen to run into you in the midst of all their globetrotting mystery fun. Say bye-bye to your friend; go back to River Heights and a nice misanthropic existence."

Nancy's cup of hot chocolate dropped to the ground. The lid snapped off of the cup and hot liquid splattered across the pavement and her shoes. She couldn't believe that Callie would say anything like that. "How dare you--,"

"Save it." Callie snapped. "You're only angry because you know I'm right."

"Actually, you're wrong." Nancy bent down to pick up the now-empty cup. When she straightened, she glared at Callie. "About several things but namely about the fact that I won't say anything. I certainly hope that you're prepared to explain yourself to Frank the next time that you see him. Although I doubt that anything you have to say to justify causing a rift between him and Joe is really going to help your stance in that relationship."

"You say that now, but I know that I won't have to. You'll never tell either of them. Now, I have to get back to work. Enjoy the rest of your time in Bayport. I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of each other."

"I doubt it."

* * *

Joe was dancing around the kitchen, preparing a sandwich, and singing in a slightly loud and off-key manner when Nancy got back to the Hardy house. "'Cause baby we'll be, at the drive in, in the old man's Ford. Behind the bushes, 'til I'm screaming for more. Down the basement, lock the cellar door, and baby--,"

Nancy crept up behind him as he sang, leaving her bags on the floor by the breakfast bar. She finished the line with him, her lips right by his ear. "Talk dirty to me."

Joe's grin got slightly wider as he turned his head to face Nancy. "Any time you want."

"You certainly seem happy." Nancy reached over to Joe's sandwich, plucking a pickle slice off of the surface and popped it into her mouth.

"I just kicked the collective asses of the Italian and Biology exams. Three more exams and a long, boring ceremony and I will officially be done with high school."

"That's great Joe."

"And what about you?" Joe asked starting back to work on his sandwich, replacing the pickle that Nancy had taken. "What have you been up to?"

"I just did a little bit of shopping. There's nothing like a little retail therapy."

"Bess would be so proud of you. Did you get anything good?"

"A cute little dress to wear to your graduation ceremony."

"Let me guess… it's a sleeveless, v-necked, Ralph Lauren wrap dress in royal blue."

Nancy regarded Joe, dumfounded. "How did you know that? I haven't even brought the bag anywhere near you."

"When we were driving here yesterday, you were looking through that Macys catalogue that you had left in the car because you forgot your book while we were in such a rush to get going. You turned back to that dress about five times."

Nancy grinned. "I don't know whether I should be impressed or worried that you might be stalking me."

"I was just being observant."

"Aww, we'll get a government agency to recruit you yet."

"Speaking of, did you make any headway on your little conspiracy investigation?"

"As a matter of fact I--," Nancy stopped short. She was all set to tell Joe what Callie had confirmed when the other girl's words echoed in her head. _'Joe started hanging out with you because he was bored and lonely without Frank around and it was nice to be around someone with an existence a bit more pathetic and depressing than his._' Logically, she knew that it wasn't true, just like she knew that her self-sacrifice justifications were usually flawed, but at the same time, her brain couldn't reconcile that information with the rest of her. "I hit a dead end with Callie. She told the same story as Frank."

Joe's face fell a little. "Oh. Well-,"

Nancy instantly regretted her choice. "But I'm sure I'll be able to figure something out. And if not, I will make it my personal mission to knock some sense into your brother."

"Thanks Nancy. You know it means a lot to me that you're willing to do this."

"No problem." Nancy sighed, feeling a bit worse. "Anytime. I know you'd do the same for me."

* * *

Nancy excused herself from dinner the moment it was no longer impolite to do so. Every moment that Frank and Joe sat together, forcing what was obviously tense civility with each other only served to remind her that she was doing the wrong thing by keeping Callie's involvement in the entire mess to herself. Matters hadn't improved much when Callie had spontaneously shown up to join them for supper; when Frank's girlfriend hadn't been spurned away, her air of confidence from earlier turned into smugness directed straight towards Nancy. It was killing her that she had let someone get to her the way Callie was achieving, but every time that she had opened her mouth to say something, she found herself stopping short and saying something completely unrelated. She was starting to wonder if she had used up the last of her courage when she and Joe had been in Florida.

Now upstairs in the guest room, she was pacing while waiting for Bess to pick up the phone. At the times like these, Bess was the only person she could count on to talk completely straight with her, something that she was in desperate need of.

"Hey there, Nance, what's up?" Bess greeted in a perky tone when she finally answered.

Nancy ran a hand through her hair. "Say you know something important that will potentially bring two people back together, but you have the most-likely irrational fear that if you say anything everything's going to change," she started. "Do you tell them?"

"Exactly how likely is it that this fear is irrational?" Bess asked.

"I'd say about 97%." Nancy answered after a brief moment of thought.

"Then of course you do. Nothing will change, and everyone will probably be a lot happier."

"What about the three percent chance that it's not irrational?"

"There's no use worrying about a measly three percent."

"But what if there is?"

Bess sighed. "All right Nancy. What's going on? I've seen you say things when there was a 75% chance of you getting shot, and you're worrying over a three percent chance of something changing? Just who does this information concern?"

"The Hardys."

Bess seemed a bit relieved at that. "Well, that at least sort of explains why you're worried. What do you have to tell them?" Nancy explained the situation to her friend. "OK, I know that you're not much for the whole cat fight thing, but there does come a time when it's completely OK to just stand your ground and slap a bitch."

"Bess…"

"What? Callie's completely out of line to do something like that to Frank and Joe. And then to say that to you…you know, if you don't want to say anything, I'd be more than happy to just call the house right now, have them put me on speakerphone and make a big announcement about it all."

"That probably wouldn't go over too well."

"Then I guess you'll just have to do it." Bess paused. "Callie was just trying to scare you. Because first of all, they're not going to blame you for telling them truth. And second of all, there's no way that just because Frank and Joe reconcile that Joe will just stop being your friend. I mean, the two of you have gotten pretty close since the spring. Even closer than you and Frank used to be."

"Bess, if you're insinuating that I have some sort of crush on Joe--,"

"Nancy, you know me. I would never do that. Insinuating is far too passive for me. You _do_ have a crush on Joe."

"I didn't call you for any sort of love life advice." Nancy certainly didn't need anyone telling her that she had a crush on someone. She was perfectly aware of her feelings and didn't need anyone to bring them to the forefront of her mind, particularly if she didn't agree with the assessment they were presenting.

"I know. But it just so happens that I'm running a special. Call me for regular advice and I add in love life advice for free. Now, why don't you go find your two little detective boy-toys and lay it all out for them? I think everyone would be much happier once all that tension gets released."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Well for one Callie's down there with them now."

"Even better. It ought to knock her down a few pegs."

"You're hostile tonight."

"I don't take well to someone who sabotages other people's relationships, familial or otherwise. Especially when it involves my friends. And given that it involves you, neither should you."

"Even so, I think I should at least avoid a conflict when Fenton and Laura are here."

"Fine. You can table the big reveal for the night."

"So glad to have your permission."

"At the very least, you should still go downstairs and plant one right on Joe."

Nancy sighed. "And on that note I think I'll--," Nancy cut herself off when she heard a large crash from downstairs. "I'll call you back later Bess, I've got to go."

* * *

The Hardys and Callie were sitting around the living room chatting mostly amicably, when there was a loud crash from the house entryway. It didn't take more than a second for everyone to jump to their feet to investigate. As they took off towards the entryway each man said their own variation of 'stay in here' to Laura and Callie, practically at the same time. The women didn't pay much attention to the warning.

In the entryway they found three things; the door, half off its hinges, and two men dressed in black, each holding a gun. They were on their way into the house further as the group arrived, but everyone quickly froze once in sight of each other.

"Look, a welcoming party. It's like they knew we were coming." One gunman commented. Though his words were sarcastic his tone reflected no emotion whatsoever. "Which one of you is Frank Hardy?"

"I am."

The answer didn't come out of Frank's mouth, or Joe's, or any member of the Hardy family. The respondent was Nancy, just behind the group, having run down from upstairs.

"Come here." The second gunman beckoned with one hand, keeping his gun pointed on the rest of the group. Nancy did as told, stepping around the Hardy family to meet with him. Once she was close enough, he looked her over with a deep scrutiny. "I've never met a girl named Frank before."

Nancy did her best to match his cold gaze and tone. "Would you want to go by the name Francis?"

There was a long pause where it seemed as though the gunman was mulling over what he had been told. "Nice try." He grabbed her wrist roughly with his free hand and twisted it backwards; Nancy grimaced. "We may not know a lot about who Frank Hardy is but we do know that he's a guy. Now," the gun was brought up to be pressed against her forehead, "give me one good reason that I shouldn't kill you for trying to trick us."

"Hey, relax!" Joe took two quick steps forward before the first gunman's gun got directed directly towards him. He held up his hands quickly. "She's just trying to protect me. I'm Frank Hardy."

"That's quite the loyal girlfriend you've got there Frank." Gunman One commented.

"She doesn't like to see me get hurt." Joe answered quickly. "And you might say that I feel the same way about her. Mind letting her go?" Gunman One gave a short nod to Gunman Two and he released Nancy's wrist shoving her down to the floor. "Thanks. Now what the hell is this about?"

"We're going to bring you somewhere, and you can tell us all about what you've been doing with the FBI."

"Sounds like fun."

"For us maybe." Gunman Two stepped forward, grabbing onto Joe's hand. His gun was briefly handed to Gunman One while he retrieved a pair of handcuffs from his belt. It was only moments before Joe's hands were cuffed behind his back and Gunman Two had his gun back. "Now let's go. We have a schedule to keep. The rest of you will do well to simply not get involved. Frank may be returned to you eventually." They started to walk out, with Gunman One walking backwards with his gun trained on the group.

"Wait!" Nancy leapt to her feet. "At least let me say goodbye."

It took a moment of hesitation on both gunmen's parts, but eventually acquiescence was given. "One minute."

Nancy rushed forward, and didn't waste any time in pulling Joe into a kiss.

* * *

Thoughts?

A quick clarification:

Callie is acting like a bitch, but there is more to it then how it appears, so Callie fans please don't turn away just yet.

More to come soon.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own and am not affiliated with Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, or any of the characters associated with them. I also do not own or am affiliated with any pop culture references that I may choose to include.

Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Just as a final clarification, this _is_ a Nancy/ Joe story. I know this disappoints one or two of the readers, but I hope it won't stop you from finishing the story. And you'll be happy to know that the next fic I plan on posting is a Nancy/Frank, so if you can hold out for just a little while…

* * *

_They stack the odds so we'll take to the street_

_For we kill with the skill_

_To survive_

* * *

Nancy pulled back from the kiss, breathing a bit heavier. The surprise on Joe's face was evident, and she imagined that the group behind her was also somewhat nonplussed, but she didn't dare take the time to look; she had taken a bit more of the allotted minute than she had intended in kissing Joe, something she was sure that Bess would love to analyze if given the chance. She opened her mouth to speak, and hesitated briefly, resting her hands upon his chest. "Frank, I just want to say that I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lied to you about your brother's feelings."

The shock was even more evident after she finished speaking. It took a few moments, but Joe recovered enough to have the presence of mind to say something in return. "We'll talk when I get back, Callie. You take care of yourself, OK?"

"You too."

"I will."

"Fifteen seconds." Gunman One informed.

Joe turned to the rest of the family. "I'll see you all soon."

"Like hell you will. You'll see us now." Nancy turned around at Frank's words, spoken in a cold tone, just in time to see him pulling a gun of his own from his waist and pointing it at the men. "He stays here."

Gunman Two cocked his weapon, and grabbed onto Joe's handcuffed wrists, drawing him closer again. "I didn't realize anyone else in the house would have a gun."

"There isn't." Joe informed with half of a smirk on his face. "The one with the gun _is_ Frank Hardy, you jackass." The moment of surprise was enough of a distraction for him to throw his head backwards into the chin of Gunman Two. The force was enough to knock him to the ground.

Nancy dove to the ground the moment she caught Joe's movement out of the corner of her eye. Not even a second later a gun went off, although she was unsure who's. Callie screamed at the explosion of noise and someone else returned the fire. When Nancy turned her head she saw Joe struggling Gunman Two and not doing well considering his arms were handcuffed behind his back. She threw herself across the floor, lunging for the gun with one hand.

Her fingers grasped around the stock of the gun, and she wrenched with all of her strength. There was a flash of pain in her wrist, already injured from the previous altercation, followed by an explosion of pain in her opposite shoulder as the gun was fired. The force sent her backwards, but the gun came with her.

Nancy gritted her teeth against the pain, and wasted no time in forcing herself to stand and adjusting her grip on the gun. It was her opinion that working through the pain was the best option for the family; it would give them the advantage in firepower at any rate.

"All right, why don't we all just calm down?" It was Fenton Hardy who spoke the question, and he stepped up next to Nancy. He was now holding Frank's gun. She was sure that she didn't want to know what that meant for Frank. "I'm sure that there's a way to end this calmly."

Despite his father's words, Joe's fight was ongoing.

"As a matter of fact there is." Gunman One smiled. He didn't remove his gaze from Nancy and Fenton, but his gun moved in a flash and he fired it once. Then it was pointed once more at the pair before either could really react.

Joe's fight was over. A bullet had been put through Gunman Two's head.

"If Frank would be so kind as to tell me the details of his little FBI project before he passes out from the blood loss, I'll be on my way and you good people can call an ambulance to bring some medical attention to this pretty little lady." Gunman One finished.

Frank hardly lifted his head; Callie, kneeling next to him, didn't move her hands from his side where she was holding her sweater tightly to a wound. "Go to hell. There is no project. I'm just training."

"Don't lie Frank. If you were just training they wouldn't be keeping you a secret. You're working on Delphinium. Now tell me what you know, or I'll be forced to put bullet holes in the rest of your family."

"You're wrong. There is no--,"

"Frank, now is not the time for this government secrecy bluffing bull shit." Joe cut off his brother. "I think it's time you tell this guy what you know."

"This…isn't a bluff. I don't know anything about Delphinium." Frank answered.

Fenton regarded the gunman with a hard gaze. "Perhaps it's time for you to look elsewhere for your information."

"I think it's time to give Frank the proper motivation." Gunman One swung his gone hand once again.

There was yet another gunshot. Gunman One fell to the floor, a stain of red spreading from the wound on his chest. Fenton hurried forward to remove the gun from his possession and to check for other weapons. "Laura, call 911 please. Callie, keep applying pressure, we'll get something from the first aid kit in a moment."

Joe got to his feet as his mother took to her task. He hurried over to Nancy, who still held the gun out in front of her, hands shaking slightly. "Let's put the gun down Nancy." With his own hands still stuck firmly behind his back he could do nothing but talk to her. "You did good, now we can give the gun to my dad, OK?"

"OK." Nancy answered quietly. She started to lower her hands.

Fenton gently removed the gun from her hands on his way back to the group. The gunman that Nancy had shot was still alive, although unconscious, but given that his son had also been shot, as well as Nancy, the elder detective found himself unworried that the man wasn't receiving any care. He set all three guns down on the small table by the door, and nodded at Joe.

Joe's attention darted between his brother on the ground and Nancy in front of him. He understood from his father's nod that his comfort was most certainly third on the list right now, and that he should try and help Nancy; he would be unable to do anything to help out Frank. "Come on Nance; let's just sit down until the paramedics get here."

* * *

"Nancy will be fine. Her wrist is broken, and the bullet wound was a through and through that missed anything vital." Fenton informed, returning to the waiting area where Laura, Joe, and Callie were after consulting with the doctors. "They're patching her up, and she'll be able to go home tonight."

"What about Frank?" Laura asked quickly, standing up from her spot sitting with Callie. Joe had been pacing.

"He's in surgery now. The bullet nicked his spleen, which is a minor concern, but the doctor's are extremely optimistic that he'll be out of surgery and awake by tomorrow morning."

Laura sighed in relief. "Oh thank goodness…"

"I had Chief Collig call the FBI field office--,"

Callie burst into tears at the mention of the FBI. "This is all my fault."

"What do you mean sweetheart?" Laura asked walking back over to the crying girl. She sat down next to her, placing a comforting hand around her shoulder.

"All that stuff that Nancy said when Joe was pretending to be Frank. It was true. I made Frank take the FBI job." She sobbed.

Joe turned angrily on the girl. "You lied to Frank?"

"I told him that you were probably going to be looking at a government job when you were out of college anyways." Callie wiped at her eyes with one hand. "And I convinced him that you would support him if he went with the FBI."

"Why would you do that Callie?"

"I wanted him to take the job. It was supposed to be safer."

"Safer? The FBI--,"

"It was supposed to be a desk job!" Callie exclaimed. "They were looking for specialists. They were supposed to be making him a codes expert. They said they were going to make him a codes expert. They said that he would be getting minimal field training, because they weren't going to send him out into the field." She paused, taking a deep breath. "I just wanted Frank to be safe. He was planning on being a private detective. I've been a PI's girl for three years now, and I can't stand it. Every other week I was getting phone calls. 'Frank's been in an accident' or 'Frank's been kidnapped'.

"I couldn't handle that for the rest of my life. I mean, I love him for god's sake. And when he told me about the offer and asked me what he should do I just thought that…at least the FBI has a structure and a protocol to things. And on top of that they were going to give him a desk job. I figured he couldn't get into nearly as much trouble."

"I don't know who you thought you were kidding. He's a Hardy. Trouble follows us around." Joe deadpanned. Like the gunmen from earlier, his tone reflected no humor.

"Joe…" Laura warned.

"Relax Mom." Joe held up a hand to his mother before focusing on Callie. "Once this all blows over and we've sorted out this Delphinium mess you will explain everything to Frank. You will apologize to him. You will apologize to me. You will let Frank decide on his own whether or not he wants to stick with this stupid FBI program. And then we'll see where we are. I'm going to go outside and get some air. Come and get me if something happens."

Fenton watched as his son left; when his eyes returned back to the scene in front of him, he recognized the look in his wife's eyes.

"Callie I want you to understand something." Laura started.

"Be gentle, Laura."

"Fenton relax. Now, Callie. You're very upset now, and I understand that. But the only reason that I am not causing a scene right now to yell at you is the fact that my son was shot tonight, and the majority of my energy is focused on what I can do to help him. But you may rest assured that were the situation different, you would not have any standing with me and if I had my way, the rest of the family. It would do you well to think about your moves and words very carefully until the time comes when we can address the problem properly."

* * *

Joe was surprised when Nancy sat down next to him on a bench outside of the hospital. Her left arm was in a sling, and her right wrist had a rather substantial looking brace around it. He guessed that he had been sitting outside for nearly an hour, but with the way his father had been talking he had thought she still had quite a bit of work to be done. "What brings you out here?"

"Your dad mentioned that you could probably use some company." Nancy answered. "And I didn't really feel like sitting around a waiting from for another few hours."

"How are you doing?"

"Well, I'm not feeling any pain. It turns out they give you positively wonderful narcotics for your pain when you've been shot. I'm a little annoyed that I'm not going to be able to do pretty much anything for myself for a while. I'll have to call Bess and let her know that I'll be here a bit longer than expected."

Joe nodded. "That's good."

Nancy mimicked the action. "They just brought Frank out of surgery. They figure he'll be unconscious for a while and once he wakes up it'll be a little bit before they let him have visitors, but it's pretty much a given that he'll be fine."

There was a bit of silence after Joe learned that Frank was out of danger. With the majority of his worries out of the way, he could start to address what had happened. He sighed heavily. "Why'd you try and pass yourself off as Frank tonight?"

"Why did you?" Nancy countered with half of a shrug.

"Well, I didn't really know who those guys were but I figured that they weren't exactly going to talk to Frank over tea to find out what they want. And if it was about his work I figured that they shouldn't get any information anyways in case they had some way to break him. I can take pain, and I wasn't at risk of telling any important government secrets."

"That's why I tried it. They would have killed you when they realized you didn't know anything."

"They would have done the same to you."

"Yeah but I'm not import--,"

Joe cut her off quickly, turning to face her. "You are important. We haven't gone back in time Nancy. This isn't Florida. You don't have a death sentence hanging over your head to make your sacrificing yourself logical." He didn't give her enough time to interject. "And don't give me any of that shit about not having a family who would grieve your loss because it's not true. Bess, George, Hannah, and my entire family are at the top of the list of people who would."

"You may be right."

"I know I'm right." Joe shot back. "And quite frankly, if we're going to keep getting ourselves into situations like that, you need to accept that. The sooner the better."

"I never thought I'd see the day when Joe Hardy lectured me about responsibility."

"Trust me. I never thought I'd see the day when I had to." Joe leaned back against the bench. "What the hell happened tonight Nancy?"

"I killed a man. He tried to kidnap me, then you, then Frank, shot Frank, Frank shot him, he shot his partner, and then I shot him."

"He was going to kill us. You did what was necessary." Joe wasn't about to let her dwell on her actions. "And as accurate a portrayal of events as that was, I referring to why it happened. What did they want from Frank?"

"Probably the same thing I want from him at this point. Information. This isn't just some advanced training program for specialists. It can't be. They don't put trainees on high profile projects."

"You're right. He was lying about not knowing anything about that Delphinium thing. You know, this is why I hate the feds. Everything's one big secret. You start working for them and you start lying to everyone you know. Even the woman who convinced you to take the job in the first place."

Nancy's eyes widened. "Callie told you about that?"

Joe scoffed. "She didn't have much of a choice between the guilt she's feeling for making him take what she was told to be the 'safe job' and the dramatic reveal you went for."

"I just…wanted to make sure that you knew that it wasn't Frank's fault."

"So you thought I was going to die?"

"Didn't we already go over this when you were just lecturing me about self-sacrifice? Yes, I thought that if things went the way it looked like they were going that you were going to die. And I didn't want that happening with you thinking that your brother was a completely heartless jerk. He's your best friend."

"I didn't realize that you cared Nancy." Joe started to tease a little bit; he knew at this point that they were waiting for information and figured that speculation wouldn't do them much good. He also figured that they were drifting in focus anyways and a little joking wouldn't be amiss after such a long night. "I mean…I thought that you might feel something for me especially after that kiss but--,"

Nancy blushed. "Come on Joe. We're both professionals. That kiss was to keep cover."

"Oh?" Joe raised an eyebrow. "And the tongue…was that to keep cover too?"

"If I had an arm that I could move comfortably I'd smack you."

"I'm just saying--,"

"Don't you think you should go get some rest? You still have exams to take tomorrow, don't you?"

"I'm sure they'll be postponed once the news of my home invasion breaks." Joe paused, noting the actual annoyance in Nancy's tone. "Look, I wasn't trying to embarrass you. I know all about the difficulties with cover kisses. I brought Vanessa to a party being thrown by the kid of this guy I was investigating once, and I left her downstairs to go check out the guy's office. Some girl followed me up but she was drunk so I started looking around anyways. When I heard someone else coming I kissed her so I wouldn't get caught. Only I did end up getting caught. By Vanessa. And she wouldn't listen to my explanation. One too many times toeing the line with her I guess."

"So that's why you guys broke up." Nancy realized. "I wouldn't have done that if I had known."

"Why? It's been six months. I'm over it. Besides, that was one hell of a kiss."

Nancy rolled her eyes, recognizing the same teasing tone. "Come on." She stood.

"Where are we going?"

"To go get something to eat. I didn't get desert and this adrenaline rushes take up a lot of energy. This vicodin wasn't really meant to go with a half-empty stomach."

"It's two in the morning. What do you think you're going to find?" Joe stood, and they started to walk inside.

"The cup of noodles machine. I figured you might want to come along for the amusement of watching me try to eat them with no hands."

"Or I'll have the amusement of getting to feed them to you. Either way, I'm a winner."

* * *

I decided not to end on too much of a cliffhanger given that it could be a while before the next update. Although I thought that once I was done applying to college that might free up some time for me, it turns out that once you're accepted, your time gets filled with applying for scholarships. I will do my best to get updates out as soon and as often as possible.

Thoughts?


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own and am not affiliated with Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, or any of the characters associated with them. I also do not own or am affiliated with any pop culture references that I may choose to include.

Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. As always feedback is helpful. I will say I was surprised by some of the reactions as some interpretations were not the way that I was intending to write the characters, but I can see how they can be taken that way, so I'll try to be a bit clearer in the future.

This is the final chapter in Shuffle. I'm really sorry about all of the delays that you had to go through to get here, but thank you to everyone who stuck with it until the end.

* * *

_Still I know to trust my own true mind_

_And to say there's a way_

_Through this_

* * *

"Hey."

"Hey."

"You're OK?"

"I will be. They'll let me out in a couple of days. You?"

"It takes more than a couple rough hands to hurt me."

"What about Nancy?"

"She'll need some help doing…well, anything for a while, but she'll be fine. She's a little shaken about shooting that guy."

"Good. That's good."

With the awkward start of the conversation out of the way, Joe sat down in the chair next to his brother's hospital bed. Frank had been awake for a while, but had first been occupied by doctors and then their parents. Joe had figured that this conversation was meant to be private, so he had waited a little bit longer. Now that he was there, he was unsure what to say. He had been angry for a while, and now it all seemed rather unfounded, even aside from the near death experience. Joe had long ago come to the conclusion that he wasn't very good at apologies, and he certainly didn't want to mess things up any further.

"So…"

"Joe, you don't have to apologize for being mad at me." Frank cut in, surprising his brother. "We don't keep things from each other, and I did."

Joe shook his head. "Yes I do. That's not why I was mad."

"Then…what?"

"Well it was sort of that," Joe admitted, fighting over his next words in his head a bit, "but it was more me being a…you're my older brother."

"Last time I checked." Frank commented dryly, unsure of where Joe was going with that statement.

"I mean, from the moment that I was born, you've been there. Even when one of us has been kidnapped or…whatever…there was never been a point where I thought that we weren't still going to be there for each other. We were always going to get through it. And between you being at college and me doing my senior year we definitely aren't as close anymore. Then to find out that you've joined the FBI…

"I was counting on working with you someday. Maybe as a PI, maybe as something else but...what can I say? We never spent time apart as kids…I never even thought about what would happen when we actually grew up."

There was a long moment where Frank took in what had been said by his brother. Why Joe had been as upset as he had been had been bothering him, and to hear it explained logically, without the influence of intoxicated confused anger as it had been when Nancy had called, helped him immensely. "First of all, I never meant for us to…not be close. We just had too much work between us to be in touch all the time."

"I know that and I don't blame you for it."

"You don't?"

"The out of touch thing is just as much my fault as it is yours. It would be…stupid to be mad at you for it. I'm just pissed that I didn't realize that the FBI was a possibility for you and that you didn't tell me that it was going to happen."

"Agent Burr gave strict instructions that what we were doing was classified at the time. For everyone."

"Callie knew." Joe pointed out, somewhat bitterly. He was trying, quite hard, not to lose his temper over the Callie situation; he knew, despite the manipulations that Callie had admitted to, that there was a possibility that Frank would have taken the job. Despite whatever he felt on the subject, he knew that he needed to know exactly what the truth was.

"Yeah. I talked to her about it when it was first offered to me." When Joe didn't say anything, Frank sighed. "Go ahead and ask, Joe. I know that you want to know."

"All right. Why did you break classified for her and not your family?"

"This was a life changing decision."

"And…?"

"And when I look at you and mom and dad I see my family and know you'll support me no matter what I choose to do. When I look at Callie…I see someone that I'm seriously considering spending the rest of my life with. And that being the case, I wanted her opinion. She needed to be OK with how I spend my life."

It didn't really make him happy, but the explanation made sense to Joe. He took a deep breath, and looked his brother hard in the eye, very unsure about what the answer to his next question might be. "Would you have taken the FBI's offer without her pushing you to?"

"Honestly? I don't know. I was having a hard time making a decision. But you should know that I don't regret it. I like what I'm doing with them, and I don't know that I'd be happy going back."

"All right." Joe sighed; it certainly wasn't what he wanted to hear but he couldn't argue against it.

"That being said, I am not happy that Callie did what she did. She manipulated me. She had chances to come clean, and she didn't. I'm not OK with the fact that she wasn't honest with me."

"What are you going to do?"

"I need to know what she has to say for herself. And we'll see what happens from there."

"It might be a while until you see her. Mom may or may not have scared her off when she heard about what she did."

"Figures." Frank shook his head, half a smile on his face. Laura Hardy knew the protective mother role extremely well. "I don't suppose you had anything to do with the intimidating, did you?"

Joe shook his head. "I just made sure she knew that apologies had better be coming our way. But that whatever happened past that was up to you."

"That's…highly mature of you Joe."

"I kind of thought so."

"Much more than running away was."

"Well, now that I look back on it that was kind of stupid."

"She's good for you."

Joe raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"Nancy." Frank filled in. "Your night of underage drinking aside…she's helped you grow up a lot. The old Joe wouldn't have come in here to have a rational conversation for another couple of weeks. And he certainly would have let Callie have it. You and Nancy…it's a good thing."

"I don't know what you mean. Nancy and I are just friends."

"Hey, maybe I was a bit clueless before but the FBI training does have some benefits. The way the two of you look at each other…you're close."

"Yeah. We're close friends."

"You know, I think that I may have heard that somewhere before. Oh right. I used to say it all the time when you thought she and I had something going."

"So the FBI taught you sarcasm. That's great Frank."

"I'm just saying…"

"I think you need to get some sleep." Joe announced, having none of this particular conversation. He stood, knowing that he really should get going anyways. "You're talking crazy from the exhaustion."

Frank just grinned. "Whatever you say. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Sometime in the afternoon. I still have exams to take. The others will be by though."

"All right. I'll see you then."

Joe agreed and started out of the room. He was almost out the door when Frank's voice stopped him.

"Hey Joe?"

"Yeah?"

"We OK?"

Joe nodded, and smiled. "Yeah. We're OK."

* * *

Three meals after her hospital visit and Nancy was already looking forward to when at least one of her arms would be healed enough to use on its own. Being able to do absolutely nothing for herself was not only quite the hindrance, but having other people feed her was certainly verging on humiliating. Still, she could think of worse situations to be stuck in. "Not that I'm not glad that you and Frank are on better terms now, but didn't you even think to ask him about this Delphinium business?" She asked after swallowing her last bite of omelet that Joe had been feeding her.

Joe stood, ready to make his own breakfast, now that it wouldn't get cold in the process of helping Nancy with hers. "It didn't really come up, and I doubt he would have taken well to me asking. He's still waiting to hear back from the FBI—what kind of government agency involving violence and the investigation of hardened criminals goes straight to voicemail anyway---and he probably wouldn't want to break classification orders just to satisfy our curiosity as to why we…you…had to kill someone in our house."

"Fair enough." Nancy sighed, not exactly pleased. "Think it will be anything worth all this mess?"

"Well, it's an FBI project so…probably not."

"Your father said that Frank's supervising agent should reach town today."

"How about we leave this until he does show up?" Joe suggested. "I don't think that nefarious plots and conspiracy theories are the best tools to help me pass the rest of my exams." In a phone call with the principal of Bayport High, Joe had arranged to take the exam that he had missed the day before directly after the exams that he had had scheduled for the day. After the extra hour and a half, all that he would have left of high school would be to walk in the graduation ceremony.

"And what _would_ you like to talk about then?" Nancy asked. "Last minute review?"

Joe shook his head. "No. It's best not to think about it at all."

"OK. So…"

"So you'll never believe what Frank _did_ tell me after we straightened things out." Joe sat down with breakfast in hand, and explained the tail end of his conversation with Frank in between bites of his breakfast.

"You have got to be kidding me." Nancy groaned. "Why is it that every time I get to be close friends with a guy someone has to turn it into a torrid love affair? I am so sick of this. No offense to you or anything, but…you would think I go around kissing every single guy I meet or something."

"No, just us Hardy Boys." Joe smirked.

Nancy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you're real cute Joe."

"Well, I would hope you think so if we're having such a torrid love affair."

* * *

"Ah, Ms. Drew, I was wondering when I might run into you."

Nancy did a double take when she caught sight of the burly man in a suit exiting Frank's hospital room. She herself was on a way in for a visit, possibly in the hopes of setting him straight on the matter of herself and Joe. However the man in front of her certainly would derail her mission for a moment. "Agent Burr. I didn't realize that you would be coming to Bayport. Are you Frank's supervisory agent?"

"Yes, I'm the agent in charge of the new unit. I actually got the idea for the project when you and the Hardys visited Quantico a while back and schooled so many of our trainees. Your name was on the short list of recruits for the project before the unfortunate business with your father. And between you and me, I would be willing to work you into the program should you decide that it is something you're interested in. According to every account of the events of the Hardy household invasion, you demonstrated that you have the basic skills and aptitude for it."

Nancy pressed her lips thinly together. "I think that before you get ahead of yourself Agent Burr you should consider telling me a bit more about what exactly has been going on. Frank has been claiming ignorance to the project, which I assume is his refusal to discuss it without your permission."

"I gather that you're referring to the Project Delphinium the suspects were referring to." When Nancy nodded Agent Burr continued. "Actually Frank _doesn't_ know about Project Delphinium."

"Then I imagine you have an extremely good explanation as to why those guys decided to try and kidnap him to get information on it."

"To put it simply, Project Delphinium doesn't really exist. It's a name that we've attached to the development of the new unit. Various undercover operatives have been making deliberate leaks about the project for a while now, in the hopes that the mystery of it all will draw some people we've been after for a while out of the woodwork."

"So you're using Frank, along with however many other recruits as decoys?"

"No." Agent Burr shook his head. "None of the approved leaks featured any unit members' names. We've already launched an investigation. And we don't anticipate any other incidents."

"Well, you didn't anticipate this one, so you'll have to forgive me when I'm not overwhelmed with confidence."

"Ms. Drew, you have to understand that these were unpredictable consequences."

"Funny. I would think that when you set someone up as bait for hardened criminals you might expect one of the consequences to be your bait getting attacked, whether you thought that you were keeping his name confidential or not."

"Now really--,"

"I've heard enough Agent Burr. I won't be joining the FBI. I'm going to go visit with Frank now. Hopefully he'll be out of the hospital in time for his brother's graduation ceremony."

"Yes. Well…Do you happen to know if Joseph will be visiting Frank later or if I'd have better luck reaching him at the Hardy household? I'd like to discuss his own opportunities within the--,"

"With all due respect, Agent Burr, I fully intend on telling Joe everything that you've just told me. And while Frank might be willing to look past the total disregard that you held for not only his but several other people's safety, I can guarantee that Joe will not be making the same mistake. Talking to him to offer anything other than an apology would not only be a waste of your time but it would also serve to make me much, much, angrier. Perhaps you should do us all a favor and just go back to Quantico and oversee the investigation."

"Very well then. Good day, Ms. Drew."

It was after Agent Burr had left and she was about to enter Frank's room that Nancy realized just what she had done.

* * *

Joe exited Bayport High School with a grin across his face; his high school career was all but over. There was only the long and drawn out ceremony to go. Despite all of his varied experiences over the years, Joe felt confident in the thought that no feeling he had experienced thus far quite compared to the freedom of being done with high school.

His smile grew a bit wider upon reaching the student parking lot. It was mostly empty due to the fact that he had taken another exam after everyone else had finished, but pacing the pavement next to where his motorcycle was a young woman, with the unmistakable shock of strawberry blond hair. "Nancy, I didn't expect to see you here." Nancy started and turned at his greeting. His smile dropped a bit when he saw the worried expression that she wore. "Is something wrong?"

"Joe! Finally." She hurried to meet him. "I owe you an apology."

"For what?"

Nancy looked down at her feet, and didn't answer.

"Nancy what do you possibly have to apologize for? You didn't purposefully teach me the wrong stuff for my tests or something, did you? I'm not gonna flunk and not graduate, right?"

"No, of course not." Nancy shook her head, softening a little bit. "I would never do anything like that."

"Then what is it?"

"This afternoon at the hospital I ran into Agent Burr at the hospital. He explained Project Delphinium to me, and how it was just this red herring attached to the new recruits to bluff criminals out of hiding. Then he told me that he was planning on inviting you into the program that Frank's involved with. I turned him down for you and told him not to go anywhere near you.

"I'm still not seeing what you need to apologize for."

"Joe, I took control of your life without even acknowledging what might be best for you. I didn't even talk to you. I just did what I felt like. It's no better than what Callie did. It's practically worse. I mean, despite how awful what she did was, at least she did it for a reason. I was just angry and didn't want to see Agent Burr win. I might have just completely ruined your future. On what planet, do I not owe you at least an apology, if not my first born child or something?"

Joe placed two reassuring hands on Nancy's shoulders, trying to ground her a bit. "Nancy. It's OK. Really. Yes, you probably should have mentioned some of this to me before, so I could have been there when you tore into him, and maybe joined in, but you did the right thing. I'm not an FBI guy. You know that. I'm horrible with authority figures. I'd never survive having to follow all of that protocol. And you are better than Callie. Callie didn't apologize until she got caught. You…you folded like a cheap lawn chair."

Nancy blushed. "I guess I got a little panicked there for a moment, didn't I?"

"That's the first time that anyone has offered me their first born in order to apologize."

"Well, I took a cab straight here once I realized what I had done, so I've been waiting for a couple of hours, and I got to thinking about it and it occurred to me that maybe my decision would keep you from meeting the girl of your dreams and you'd live a life of eternal womanizing bachelorhood and never have kids of your own, and you mentioned once that having a family was something that you were looking forward to one day."

"OK, you're not allowed to panic anymore. You have an overactive imagination when you panic."

"Well…I'm sorry. For everything."

"Apology accepted. Think you can relax now?" Joe didn't wait very long for a response. "I suppose the real question now is, how are we going to get you back to my house? You can't exactly hold on to ride the bike with me."

* * *

OK. There it is. I know I said that it was going to be Nancy/Joe, but I've been stuck trying to find a place to go from here forever, and everything just felt really forced and rushed. I wanted to finish this before I left for my summer classes, and before I started working on any other story ideas, so I just decided to let it be a bit more unresolved. At some point I may come back and add on, but I wouldn't consider that to be a very likely option. I'm very sorry to anyone who was really looking forward to the Nancy/Joe relationship.

Thanks to everyone who read!


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